Believe
by I heart Lyoko
Summary: On the night of Christmas Eve, a train called the Polar Express has shown up at Kadic Academy. What adventure awaits the Lyoko Warriors this time? (Co-written by AquaDestinysEmbrace)
1. Chapter 1, Christmas

**(Co-Authored with AquaDestinysEmbrace. Anne Marshall also belongs to her. Neither of us own Code: Lyoko, or the Polar Express, or any names or brands that may appear.)**

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><p>The Lyoko Warriors all walked through Kadic Academy, towards the dorms, during a freezing winter night.<p>

Odd shivered. "Man... It's so cold!"  
>"What do you expect? It's winter, it's supposed to be cold..." Anne retorted as she shoved her hands into her pockets.<p>

Dylan breathed on his hands, rubbing them together to warm them up. Chase shivered, putting his hands in his pockets.

Yumi yawned. "I gotta get back to my family... See ya, guys..." she said as she left the group.

"Bye Yumi! Merry Christmas!" Aelita said, smiling

Ulrich shoved his hands into his pockets to keep them warm. "Come on, guys... It's getting late..."

"Yeah... Heat. Bed. Sleep. That's the things I want right now... BAD..." Aelita said, shivering

"We're the only ones on campus... Well, at least Sissi won't be bugging us 24/7." Ulrich smirked.  
>Anne yawned. "Well, Merry Christmas, everyone..." she said as she gave Dylan a kiss on the cheek before heading over to her dorm.<p>

Dylan blushed, seeing Odd smirking at him. "Smooth moves, Dylan..." Odd smirked

"Oh, shut up..." Dylan retorted.  
>Odd smirked and walked to his dorm with Ulrich. "Well, goodnight everyone! Merry Christmas!"<p>

"Merry Christmas!" everyone shouted, as Ulrich and Odd walked away.  
>Chase yawned, stretching his arms. "I think I'm going home... Ai, you coming, or are you staying with Jeremie?"<p>

Aelita blushed. "S-Stay with Jeremie..."  
>Chase smirked and nodded. "Well, I gotta go... See ya tomorrow, sis!"<br>And with that, he walked off to his dorm.

Aelita locked hands with Jeremie, and smiled at Dylan.  
>"Goodnight, Dylan... Merry Christmas!" Aelita said<p>

Dylan smiled. "Merry Christmas! Now, I need to go and get some sleep..."  
>And with that, he walked away.<br>Aelita smiled as she and Jeremie walked to Jeremie's dorm together.

Aelita smiled, kissing Jeremie's cheek as they walked through the snow.

They soon entered the boys dorms. Once they entered their room, Jeremie got out a mattress and blanket for Aelita.  
>"Here... You sleep on the bed. I'll sleep on the mattress..." he offered.<p>

Aelita smiled, and nodded. "Okay... Goodnight Jeremie"

Jeremie nodded and climbed onto the mattress and got under the covers.  
>Aelita smiled and got under the covers on Jeremie's bed. Slowly, her eyes began to droop.<p>

"Goodnight Jeremie... I love you..." Aelita said, sleepily  
>Aelita moved her hand off of the bed, allowing Jeremie to grab it.<br>"Goodnight Aelita... I love you too..." Jeremie said, sleepily

Aelita smiled and closed her eyes, eventually rolling asleep.

* * *

><p>==Later in Anne's room==<p>

* * *

><p>Anne wore a black flannel buttoned up flannel pajama shirt with blue pajama pants as she laid snuggled under the covers, fast asleep.<p>

Anne had a smile on her face, dreaming about Pepsi, and Dylan.

Suddenly, she felt the ground slightly shaking. It was enough to cause Anne to slowly fall off her bed and hit the floor with a THUD.  
>"OW! What the?!" Anne exclaimed, immediately waking up as she sat up.<p>

Anne heard a loud train horn, making her go wide eyed. "T- There isn't a rail-line anywhere near here!" Anne exclaimed

Anne looked out the window and saw a blinding light. Squinting her visible eye, she ran to her closet and pulled out a black jacket with a high collar.  
>Quickly, she slipped it on and zipped it up. She then slipped on a pair of navy blue slippers before darting out the door as she tied her bandana back over her eye, rushing towards the boys dorms.<p>

Dylan was snoring. Loudly. He was dreaming of Mountain Dew, and Anne, as Anne knocked on his door.

"DYLAN! DYLAN, WAKE UP!" Anne exclaimed.

Dylan screamed, falling out of his bed. He sat up, and rubbed his head.  
>"WHAT?!" Dylan asked<p>

"LOOK OUT THE WINDOW!" Anne called from the other side of the door.  
>Dylan looked out the window and saw a blinding light, hearing a loud train horn. "What the..." he muttered.<br>He quickly got up, putting a pair of slippers on with his red pajama pants and green shirt, throwing on a jacket as he stepped out of the room.

Dylan and Anne ran down the hallway, with wide eyes.  
>"What the hell was that?! A train?!" Dylan asked, with shock<p>

"I don't know! But we should find the others!"  
>Anne and Dylan ran down the halls to wake the other Lyoko Warriors. "WILLIAM! JEREMIE! ODD! ULRICH!"<p>

Jeremie and Aelita immediately opened their doors, glaring at Dylan and Anne, with exhaustion.  
>"WHAT IS IT?!" Aelita asked, with grouchiness<p>

"Don't you hear that?!" Anne asked. They went silent as they heard the train horn blare.

Odd and Ulrich ran out of their rooms, with shocked looks on their faces.  
>"There's a TRAIN outside, guys!" Odd said, with shock<p>

Aelitas eyes widened. Quickly, she and Jeremie slipped on jackets and slippers. "CHASE!"  
>A moment later, Chase stumbled out of his room wearing a red shirt with yellow pajama pants. "Whaaaattttt...? he groaned sleepily.<p>

"There's a train outside, Chase!" Aelita said  
>Chase closed his eyes, and tilted his head, snoring as he slept standing.<p>

Anne smacked him upside the head.  
>"WHA?!" he exclaimed as he jerked awake.<br>"There's a train outside!" Anne exclaimed.  
>Everyone shut up so Chase could hear. His eyes widened before he grabbed a jacket and slipping it on.<br>Quickly, Odd slipped on some pajama pants over his shorts and grabbed a jacket and slippers, as well as Ulrich.

Everyone ran down a flight of stairs, with wide eyes.  
>"There's a freaking TRAIN outside! There's not even a rail-line for 50 miles!" Chase said, with disbelief<p>

"What's going on?!" Anne asked as they ran down the stairs.  
>"No idea!" Dylan said.<p>

The group ran outside, gasping, as they saw a large train in front of the dorms.

(REVIEWS ARE LOVE! SO LOVE US!)


	2. Chapter 2, The Polar Express

The Lyoko Warriors gaped in shock at the sight before them. A train, that's right, a TRAIN was in front of the dormitory buildings.

Jeremie shook his head, with wide eyes. "T... T- That's not possible..." Jeremie said, with shock

The group looked up at the train with shock as they cautiously approached it.

Anne locked her hand with Dylan's, as the Lyoko Warriors cautiously approached the mysterious train.  
>"ALL ABOARD!" A voice shouted, in the distance<p>

Anne rose an eyebrow as she looked around. "Huh?" she questioned.  
>Dylan looked to their left and noticed a figure in the distance by one of the passenger carts.<br>"ALL ABOOOOAAAARRRRD!" the voice called yet again.

"There's someone on one of the passenger carts!" Dylan said

"I can see that..." Chase retorted.  
>Slowly, the Lyoko Warriors walked to the direction of the voice. Eventually, the smoke cleared, revealing a man wearing a conductor's uniform.<p>

"ALL ABOOOAARRDD!" The man yelled

Once they reached the man, he looked at them.  
>"Well? You comin'?"<p>

The Lyoko Warriors all had confused looks.  
>"Comin'? Comin' where...?" Odd asked<p>

"Why to the North Pole, of course! This is the Polar Express!" the man said as he gestured to the train.

Chase had a confused look.  
>"The North Pole...?" Chase asked<p>

William crossed his arms.  
>"This can't be real..." William said<p>

"I mean, a TRAIN shows up out of nowhere on Christmas Eve..." Chase said, trailing off.

Jeremie rose an eyebrow, looking at the man.  
>"Who are you...?" Jeremie asked<p>

"You can just call me the Conductor." the man replied.  
>"Just the Conductor?" Anne asked.<br>The man nodded. "Just the Conductor."

"O... Kay..." Dylan said, with a confused look  
>"So, this train goes to the North Pole...?" Odd asked<p>

The Conductor nodded. "It does."

"Can I come?" Anne asked, smiling

Chase gave Anne a look. "Seriously?"  
>"Oh, come on, Chase! Don't you remember what Christmastime was like for you, Dylan, and I when we were kids?" Anne asked.<p>

Chase and Dylan both nodded, smiling.  
>"I remember how you wouldn't sleep from the excitement..." Dylan said, smirking<p>

"I remember how you always called us on Christmas Eve talking about Santa Claus..." Dylan said.

"Or about the reindeer..." Chase said

Anne chuckled.

The Conductor smirked at the Lyoko Warriors.  
>"Are you comin'?" The Conductor asked<p>

Aelita stepped forward. "I'll come."

Chase stepped forward. "If she's going, then I'm going with."

Ulrich sighed. "Well, I guess I'll go... I wanna find out if this guy's telling the truth..."

"I'll come!" Odd piped up.  
>Dylan stepped forward. "If Anne is going, then I'll go with her, too."<p>

Jeremie sighed, nodding. "I'm going with you, Aelita".

William crossed his arms as he looked at the Conductor uncertainly.

"I dunno... This doesn't make sense..." William said, shaking his head

"Suit yourself..." the Conductor shrugged.  
>Everyone except William climbed aboard. The Conductor waved to the front, signaling the engineer to move on.<br>As the train started to move, William looked back at Kadic and back at the Polar Express. Then he took off running after it.

The Lyoko Warriors saw William running after them. Aelita leaned against the train, holding out her arm.  
>"Come on, William!" Aelita shouted<p>

William managed to grab hold of the rail. Aelita reached out and pulled him onto the train.

William landed on the train, as Aelita landed next to him. Anne smiled, as she helped them up.

"T-Thanks..." William panted.  
>"What made you wanna come?" Aelita asked.<p>

William shrugged. "I dunno... I just wanted to see what'll happen, I guess..."

The Conductor stood by the door and opened it for them.

The Conductor smiled. "Well...? Come on in!"

One by one, they entered the passenger car.

The Lyoko Warriors went wide eyed, seeing several other Kadic students in the passenger car.

Each of the Lyoko Warriors took a seat. Dylan and Anne sat together in one. Aelita and Jeremie also sat together.

Chase and Odd sat behind Aelita and Jeremie, as Ulrich sat behind Dylan and Anne, and as William sat in front of them.

Ulrich looked out the window as the Polar Express passed by the science building.

"Are we gonna get Yumi?" Ulrich asked

Aelita shrugged. "I don't know..."  
>Anne looked out the window and watched as the train approached the Kadic gates. She was surprised to see train tracks ahead of them.<p>

Those DEFINITELY weren't there before...

Chase also noticed the tracks, and went wide eyed.  
>"Those aren't supposed to be there!" Chase exclaimed<p>

"How did they get there?!" Anne asked.

"I dunno!" Dylan exclaimed

The Polar Express then left Kadic Academy, heading into town, where there were train tracks on the road.  
>The Conductor then pulled out a puncher. "Tickets. Tickets, please."<p>

The Lyoko Warriors all had confused looks.  
>"We don't have any tickets..." Jeremie stated<p>

"Check your pockets." the Conductor said, hiding a smirk.

Anne reached in her pocket. She went wide eyed, as she pulled out a golden-colored ticket. The rest of the Lyoko Warriors did the same, finding a ticket in their pockets.

"What the..." Odd whispered.

"T- That... What?!" Jeremie asked, with confusion

The Conductor held his hand out. "Now... tickets, please."  
>Anne handed her ticket to the Conductor. The Conductor started to punch something into the ticket rapidly.<br>A piece landed on Anne's lip, but she blew it off.

Dylan quietly snickered, seeing another piece land in Anne's hair.

The Conductor then finished punching the ticket and handed it back to her.  
>Anne rose an eyebrow as she took it, seeing two letters punched into it; 'L' and 'E'.<p>

"'L', 'E'?" Anne asked, with confusion.

The Conductor started to punch a couple letters into Dylan's ticket.

Dylan felt a piece land on his head, which he brushed off.

The Conductor then handed him back his ticket.

Dylan smiled, and looked at the ticket.

Two letters were punched into it; 'R and E'.  
>The Conductor then started to punch letters into the other Lyoko Warriors' tickets.<p>

Aelita smiled, watching The Conductor punch her ticket.

Eventually, he got through all of them.  
>Odd's ticket had the letters 'L' and 'I'.<br>Jeremie's ticket had the letters 'L' and 'E'.  
>Aelita's ticket had the letters 'C' and 'E'.<br>Ulrich's ticket had the letters 'O' and 'N'.

"'C', 'E'?" Aelita asked, with curiousity

Chase and William looked at their tickets.  
>William's had the letters 'B' and 'E'.<p>

"What's this?" William asked

Chase's ticket had the letters 'P' and 'T'.  
>Chase rose an eyebrow, but shrugged as he placed the ticket in his pocket.<p>

"Weird..." Chase muttered

Aelita looked out the window, watching with slight amazement as they passed by several buildings in town.  
>"You guys really think this goes to the North Pole?" Ulrich asked.<br>"If that were possible, then how?" Jeremie asked.

Aelita smiled. "Maybe magic?"

"Magic?" Jeremie asked doubtfully.

Aelita rose an eyebrow. "You don't believe in magic, Jeremie...?"

"Do you?" Jeremie asked.  
>"Some magic. Christmas magic, too..." Aelita said.<br>Jeremie leaned back. "Well... a locomotive shows up on Christmas Eve out of nowhere... I don't see how its possible.  
>"It could be magic." Aelita suggested.<br>Jeremie shrugged. "Yeah... maybe..."

Chase and Dylan both looked at Anne.  
>"What about you, Anne...? Do you believe in magic?" Dylan asked<p>

"I don't know..." Anne shrugged.  
>The Lyoko Warriors continued to chat amongst themselves, unsure of where this mysterious train would stop at next.<p>

(REVIEWS ARE LOVE! SO LOVE US!)


	3. Chapter 3, Hot Chocolate

Anne stared out the window as they passed by a store with a Christmas display.

Dylan also saw the display, and smiled. "Nice train set..."

A bunch of kids on the train rushed over to the windows and awed at the display.  
>"Look at all those presents!" one cried out.<p>

"That teddy bear is so huge!" Tamiya cried out  
>"I want that train set so bad!" another kid cried out<p>

"I want all of them!" A kid cried out.  
>Chase sighed. "Oh boy, here we go..."<p>

Even Aelita went to look at the set up, with wide eyes. She smirked, as she saw a large pink teddy bear, about 4 or 5 feet high.  
>"That's a BIG bear..." Aelita stated, snickering<p>

William sighed. "Those kids just want, want, want..."

"Tell me about it..." Ulrich muttered

Anne leaned back in the seat as the kids looked out the window.

Dylan looked at Anne, sighing.  
>"Those kids are so annoying..." Dylan muttered<p>

"Seems they don't understand what Christmas really means..." Aelita sighed.  
>The Polar Express soon entered a suburban part of the neighborhood.<p>

Ulrich went wide eyed. "Wait... Isn't this Yumi's neighborhood?"

"Yeah..." Odd nodded.

The Lyoko Warriors saw the Polar Express stop in front of Yumi's house.

A moment later, they saw Yumi rushing out in her pajamas slipping on a jacket and slippers.

They saw Yumi look up at the Polar Express with shock.

"Oh wow..." Yumi muttered, with shock

The Conductor stepped out and walked up to Yumi. The Lyoko Warriors gathers by the windows and watched.

"Well? You comin'?" The Conductor asked

"To where...?" Yumi asked suspiciously

"Why to the North Pole, of course!" The Conductor exclaimed  
>The Conductor gestured to the train.<br>"This is the Polar Express!" The Conductor said

Yumi crossed her arms. "This can't be real..." she said to herself.

Ulrich pulled down the window next to his seat, and looked at Yumi, nodding.  
>"It's real, Yumes!" Ulrich exclaimed<p>

Yumi gasped. "Ulrich?!"

"We're all in here..." Ulrich said

Anne pulled the window down and waved. "Yo!"  
>Yumi looked at her with shock. "Everyone's on there?!"<p>

Aelita pulled her window down, and smiled. "Yep! We all are, Yumi!"

Yumi looked at the Conductor suspiciously. "Does this seriously go to the North Pole?" she questioned.  
>"Well, why don't you find out?" The Conductor said.<p>

Yumi sighed, and looked at Aelita and Anne.  
>"Should I?" Yumi asked<p>

Anne smirked. "Ulrich's here. So you wanna come with him?" she asked.  
>"If I were you, I'd get on!" Aelita said.<p>

Yumi blushed, as she turned to look at The Conductor.  
>"I- I guess I'll come with... How much is a ticket?" Yumi asked<p>

"You don't need to pay." the Conductor told her.

Yumi nodded, as she walked towards the train.

The Conductor opened the door and she stepped into the passenger cart.

Yumi smiled, seeing the Lyoko Warriors in the cart. Yumi walked to them, and waived.  
>"Hey guys" Yumi greeted<p>

"Hey!" Anne greeted from her seat with Dylan.

"Hey, Yumi!" Chase greeted

Yumi sat down next to Ulrich as the Conductor walked over to her.  
>"Ticket, please."<br>Yumi blinked. "I don't have one..."  
>"Check your pocket, then." the Conductor told her, hiding his smirk.<p>

Yumi rose an eyebrow, as she put her hands in her pockets. She went wide eyed, as she pulled a ticket from one of them.

The Conductor took it and began punching two letters into it.

Yumi rose an eyebrow.

He then handed the ticket back to her.

Yumi rose an eyebrow, seeing letters on it.

The letters were 'T' and 'S'.

Yumi looked at The Conductor.  
>"What's with these letters?" Yumi asked<p>

The Conductor walked away, not answering her question.  
>"Same thing with us." Ulrich told her as he showed her the ticket.<p>

"I got 'P' and 'T'" Chase said, showing his ticket

"'L' and 'E' for mine..." Anne said.

Yumi had a confused look, as she nodded.

The Polar Express chugged through town.

The Lyoko Warriors all looked outside.

They saw the last few buildings before they exited the town.

Anne smiled, looking at Dylan.  
>"I can't believe we're going to the North Pole!" Anne exclaimed<p>

"You seem really excited." Dylan chuckled.

"I am! Aren't you?!" Anne asked, with excitement

"Yeah, a little. That is, if this guys telling the truth." Dylan replied.

Anne nodded, smiling as she looked at Chase.  
>"What about you, Chase?" Anne asked<p>

Chase had a thoughtful look.

"Eh... Not really... I've been there before and it was WAY too cold..." Chase said

Anne rolled her eye.

"Uh huh..." Anne said, flatly

Eventually, they felt the train begin to slow down.

"Who're they picking up next?" Jeremie asked

Aelita lowered her window so they could hear what was going on.  
>A young boy, most likely 11, stepped out of a small house in the country.<p>

Aelita saw The Conductor walk out to him.

They could only hear bits and pieces of the conversation.

"This is the Polar Express!" they heard The Conductor say

"What's goin' on?" Anne asked.  
>"Ah, they're just picking up some other kid." a random kid said from a seat.<p>

Anne nodded, looking back outside, at the kid.

The kid shook his head and backed away.  
>"Suit yourself." the Conductor shrugged as he climbed onto the train and signaled for the engineer to start the train up again.<p>

They watched as the kid simply stood there, watching the train slowly pass.

A few seconds later, the kid started to run after the train.

Anne and Aelita went wide eyed.

Chase's eyes widened. "Hey, that kid wants to get on!"

"Someone stop the train!" Aelita said

"Come on!" Anne yelled to the kid.

The kid suddenly tripped, and fell in the snow.

Chase's eyes widened. "Hey! Stop the train! He wants to get on!"  
>"We have to stop the train." Jeremie stated as he got out of his seat.<p>

"How do you suggest we do that?!" Dylan asked

"The emergency brake!" A kid exclaimed as he pointed at the emergency brake near the front of the cart.

Jeremie ran to the emergency break, and pulled it down, making the train start to stop.

As the train slammed to a halt, everyone lurched forward. Anne ended up hitting her face on the seat on front of her.  
>"D'OH!" she cried out.<p>

Dylan went wide eyed. "Anne, you okay?"

Anne groaned and rubbed her nose. "Y-Yeah..."

Dylan nodded, as everyone saw The Conductor enter the cart, frowning.

Aelita, Yumi, and Jeremie noticed the kid had caught up thanks to the train stopping. The kid climbed on. Aelita smiled and waved, but the kid shyly looked away and headed into the back cart.  
>"Who pulled the emergency brake?!" the Conductor demanded.<p>

Jeremie went wide eyed, as he saw the Conductor point at him.

"You! Young man, I don't know what you were thinking, but Christmas Eve may not be important to you, but to some other people, it is VERY important!" The Conductor said.

"But-But-But..." Jeremie stuttered.

"He was just trying to stop the train so that boy could get on!" Aelita defended as she pointed out the door to the back cart, where the boy had gone into.

The Conductor looked at the back cart, seeing the boy.

"Young man, is that true?" The Conductor asked.

"Y- Yes sir..." Jeremie said

Aelita nodded. "Yes, sir... It's true..."

The Conductor nodded, and smiled.

"Well, let me remind you that we are in a very tight schedule. I've never been late before-" the conductor paused for a moment to check his watch. "And I am certainly not going to be late tonight! Now, everybody, take your seats PLEASE!"

The kids all nodded, sitting in all of their seats.

"Thank you..." he sighed before he grabbed the microphone. "Now, are there any Polar Express passengers in need of refreshments?" he asked into the microphone.

The Lyoko Warriors all nodded, raising their hands along with the rest of the kids.

The Conductor smiled. "That's what I thought."

Anne rose an eyebrow.

Just then, several waiters stepped out of the door, coming into the cart tap dancing as they spun the chairs around so the kids in them could face the kid behind them.

The Lyoko Warriors all instantly went wide eyed. "Oh wow..." Anne muttered "That's pretty cool..." Aelita said

The waiter started to sing.

_"Hot, hot!"_

_"Ooh, we got it!"_ the Conductor chimed in.

_"Hot, hot!"_

_"Hey, we got it!"_

_"Hot, hot!"_

_"Say, we got it!"_

Anne went wide eyed, seeing the refreshments was hot chocolate.

The waiters sang as they tap danced while serving the hot chocolate.

_"Hot, hot!"_

_"Oh, we got it!"_ the Conductor sang.

_"Hot, hot!"_

_"So, we got it!"_

_"Hot, hot!"_

_"Yo, we got it!"_

_"Hot chocolate!"_ the waiters sang.

The Lyoko Warriors went wide eyed, as the waiters set up some tables at their booths.

_"Here, we've only got one rule Never ever let it cool Keep it cooking in the pot Then you've got-!"_ the Conductor sang before he moved to the side for the waiters as they brought in a sort of machine that served hot chocolate. _"Hot chocolate!"_

Anne smiled, as she saw the machine.

The machine served hot chocolate, each serving landing perfectly in their cups on the tables.

_"Hot, hot!"_

_"Ooh, we got it!"_

_"Hot, hot!"_

_"Hey, we got it!"_

_"Hot, hot!"_

_"Say, we got it!"_ As they sang, Aelita secretly slipped her cup of hot chocolate under her seat.

_"Hot chocolate!" _

_"Hot, hot!"_

_"Oh, we got it!"_

_"Hot, hot!"_

_"So, we got it!"_

_"Hot, hot!"_

_"Yo, we got it!"_

_"Hot chocolate!"_

Chase smirked, noticing Aelita slipping the cup under her seat.

_"Here, we've only got one rule!"_ The Conductor sang.

_"Here, we only got one rule!"_ the waiters sang as they served the drinks and tapped danced.

_"Never ever let it cool!"_

_"Never ever let it cool!"_

_"Keep it cooking in the pot Soon ya got hot chocolate!"_ the Conductor sang as he slid on his knees before he got up.

_"Hot, hot!"_ He sang.

_"Ooh, we got it!"_ the waiters sang.

_"Hot, hot!"_

_"Whoa, we got it!"_

_"Hot, hot!"_

_"Yeah, we got it!"_

_"Hot, hot!"_

_"Whoa, we got it!"_

_"Hot, hot!"_

_"Hey, we got it!"_

_"Hot, hot!"_

_"Yeah, we got it!"_ the watiers sang while they tapped danced on the tables. They then jumped off and pulled the tablecloths off, the table mysteriously disappearing. They all picked up the now empty cups of hot chocolate and tapped danced out of the cart with the Conductor following them. The conductor closed the door behind them as he stepped out.

Chase had a wide eyed look, staring at the door. "Huh... That just happened..."

Dylan wiped the hot chocolate mustache off his lip. "Catchy song..." He remarked. Aelita reached under her seat and pulled out the cup of hot chocolate before heading to the back door leading out to the last cart. "What're you doing?" Jeremie asked.

"I'm bringing this to the kid in the back cart... And I was thinking I might sit with him for a while, to cheer him up" Aelita said, smiling.

"Hey, you can't go out there on your own without an adult. It's against safety regulations!" A voice piped up. They saw that it was Herve who had said it. "Herve? What're you doing here?" Jeremie asked. "Same as you did." Herve told him.

Jeremie nodded, as Aelita turned to look at Herve. "I'll be right back... That boy didn't get any hot chocolate" Aelita said

"You really shouldn't go out there by yourself..." Odd said. "I think I'll be fine, guys..." Aelita said as she headed towards the back door. "You sure?" Jeremie asked. Aelita froze hearing this. Just then, the Conductor walked up behind her. He looked through the window to see the boy sitting alone in the last passenger cart. "And what about this young lad in the back? Did he get any refreshments?" he questioned.

"N- No, he didn't..." Aelita said

The Conductor smiled. "Well then, let's take some to him, by all means!" he said as he led Aelita out the door. "Watch your step..." he advised before shutting the door behind them. Jeremie smiled at Aelita's kindness before he looked down and his eyes widened. Aelita had forgotten her ticket!

(REVIEWS ARE LOVE! SO LOVE US!)


	4. Chapter 4, King of the North Pole

Jeremie's eyes widened as he quickly picked up Aelita's ticket.

"Oh no..." Jeremie muttered

He quickly picked up the ticket. "She forgot her ticket!"

"She did?" Anne asked, with surprise

"I gotta get it back to her!" Jeremie exclaimed as he got out of his seat.

"Hey, you can't go to another cart, Belpois!" Herve interjected.

"It's against safety regulations for someone to head out without an adult!" Herve added.

Jeremie frowned at Herve.

"She forgot her ticket!" Jeremie said

Jeremie rushed to the door and opened it, but froze seeing a gap where the back cart connected to the passenger cart.

Jeremie saw the speed of the ground passing the train. He gulped.

He looked up seeing Aelita and the Conductor give the boy the hot chocolate.

Just then, the wind blew the ticket out of Jeremie's hand. "No!" he exclaimed as he tried to reach for it.

The ticket blew away from Jeremie's hand, and away from the train.

Jeremie rushed back into the cart and ran to a window, where the ticket was caught in. He lowered the window in an attempt to get it, but the wind blew it away.

Jeremie tried to reach it, but the ticket was already too far away.

Jeremie had a wide eyed look, as he watched the ticket blow away.

Jeremie slumped down in the seat with defeat. "Oh no..."

Unknown to him, the wind blew the ticket through a forest the Polar Express was passing by.

As the Conductor and Aelita came back into the passenger cart, the ticket floated into the cart just as the Conductor closed the door.  
>The ticket ended up landing on a vent.<p>

As Aelita sat back down, she looked at the seat and her eyes widened. "My ticket... Where is it? I left it right here..."

Jeremie looked at Aelita, with guilt.  
>"I- I tried to bring it to you, but the wind blew it out of my hand... I'm so sorry, Aelita" Jeremie said, with guilt.<p>

"You mean to say you've LOST your ticket?" the Conductor asked.

Jeremie sighed sadly and pulled his ticket out. "Here... You can have my ticket, Aelita..." he told her as he tried to give it to her, but the Conductor stopped him.

"AH! These tickets are not transferable!" the Conductor said.

The Lyoko Warriors all watched, with worry and sadness.

The Conductor sighed and looked at Aelita. "Young lady, you'll have to come with me..."

The Conductor led Aelita out of the passenger cart. Before the door closed, Aelita looked over her shoulder sadly.

Jeremie watched Aelita and The Conductor leave the passenger cart. He sighed, and sat back down, sadly.

"You know what's gonna happen now, don't ya? He's gonna throw her off the train!" Herve said.

The Lyoko Warriors and the other kids on the train gasped. "WHAT?!" Jeremie exclaimed.

Herve nodded. "Yeah, he's gonna take her to the back so she can jump off. It's standard procedure so she won't get sucked under the wheel."

"Herve, just be quiet! They're not throwing my sister off of the train!" Chase snapped

Herve sighed. "She doesn't have her ticket, so it's standard procedure."

Jeremie clenched his fists. "We have to stop the train!" he exclaimed as he rushed to the emergency brake.

"No, don't do that!" Herve protested.

"Not again!" a kid said.

Jeremie was about to pull the emergency brake, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a flash of gold on the vent. It was the ticket!  
>Quickly, he rushed to the vent and grabbed the ticket just before it slipped through the vent.<p>

Jeremie pulled the ticket out, and had a wide eyed look.  
>"T- This is her ticket!" Jeremie exclaimed<p>

Chase hopped out of his seat. "Come on! We have to get it back to Aelita!" he exclaimed.

Chase looked over at Anne and Dylan's seat. "Anne! Help us!"

Anne got out of her seat. "Okay! Dylan, you stay here!" she told him.

Dylan nodded, as Anne and Chase ran to Jeremie.

Jeremie opened the door, seeing the gap between the carts. He held the ticket in his mouth with his teeth before he jumped across to the back cart with Anne and Chase following him.

Jeremie opened the door to the rear passenger cart, and he, Chase, and Anne ran into it.

Jeremie rushed to the back door and opened it, finding now thigh but a railing and the train tracks the Polar Express was on.

Chase turned to the young boy in the seat. "Hey, kid, where are they?"

The boy simply looked down, remaining silent.

"Please, we have to give this back to her!" Jeremie told the boy as he showed him the ticket.

"Please, just tell us where she went!" Anne pleaded

The kid only looked down silently. Anne looked out the window and saw a silhouette of two figures on top of the train.

"They're on the top of the carts!" Anne exclaimed

Quickly, Jeremie, Chase, and Anne ran outside. Jeremie noticed a ladder and was the first to climb it.

Anne and Chase climbed up after him. They went wide eyed, shivered, and wrapped their arms around themselves.

"It's freezing up here!" Anne said

Thankfully, the jackets they wore provided them some warmth.  
>Jeremie noticed a light in the distance. "Look!"<p>

Anne, Chase, and Jeremie walked across the top of the cart with some difficulty due to the wind and snow blowing in their faces.

"HEY! AELITA! I FOUND YOUR TICKET!" Jeremie called.

The light was dimmed because of the wind and snow. The group tried following it, as they saw it disappear.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, with Yumi and Ulrich...<p>

* * *

><p>Ulrich stared out the window silently, looking to be in deep thought.<p>

Yumi rose an eyebrow. "Ulrich?"

Ulrich was silent. She tried again. "Ulrich?"

"Hm?" Ulrich asked as he looked at the window.

"Is something wrong?" Yumi asked

Ulrich shook his head. "No, nothing's wrong."

Unknown to Yumi, he wasn't telling the truth.

"Alright, Ulrich..." Yumi said, nodding.

Ulrich sighed and closed his eyes.

Unknown to them, William had slipped out the door heading to another cart.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, with Jeremie, Anne, and Chase...<p>

* * *

><p>Jeremie tightly held onto the ticket, as he, Chase, and Anne walked across the carts.<p>

In the distance, music could be heard.

"What the..." Anne muttered.

As they kept walking, the music got louder and a light could be seen.  
>They walked closer and the light became clearer, revealing a man in ragged clothing by some sort of campfire on top of the cart, humming to himself as he played some sort of instrument.<p>

Chase, Jeremie, and Anne all went wide eyed.  
>"Uh... Hello, sir..." Chase said, not knowing what to say.<p>

The man paused playing his instrument and looked up at them.  
>"Can I help you three with somethin'?" he asked as he rose an eyebrow.<p>

"Have you seen a girl up here?" Jeremie asked

"A gi-" the man, or rather the hobo, began, but cut himself off as he burst into laughter. "Ain't we all lookin' for one?!" he joked as he laughed some more as he played the instrument.

Anne had an unamused look on her face as she crossed her arms.

"We have her ticket..." Jeremie explained as he showed the hobo the ticket.

The hobo rose an eyebrow as he took the ticket and examined it. "Well, lookie here... This is an official, genuine... Ticket to ride. Oh, you better keep this in a safe place, young man." the hobo said as he gave the ticket back to Jeremie.

As Jeremie prepared to put the ticket in his jacket pocket, the hobo spoke up again.

"If I was you, I'd put all my valuables right here..." he said as he pulled off his shoe, which the sole hung loosely at the front. "Right here in the ol' size 13. Trust me, this is the safest place."

Jeremie slipped the ticket into one of his slippers.

Anne and Chase still had confused looks.

"So... You haven't seen a pink-haired girl up here?" Anne asked

The hobo shook his head. "Can't say I have.

The hobo shook his head. "Can't say I have. Sorry."

He then smirked. "I don't have much use for those. Tickets. I ride for free. I hop aboard this rattler anytime I feel like it. I own this train. It's like I'm the king of this train. Yeah, the king of the Polar Express. In fact, I am the king... **OF THE NORTH POLE!** he exclaimed loudly as he stood up.

"The North Pole?" Anne asked

The hobo smirked.

"Sit, sit. Take a load off." he told them as he sat back down.

The three hesitated, but they sat on top of a couple boxes.

"Would you like some joe?" The hobo asked as he took a kettle off the fire and poured them each a cup. "Nice hot refreshment, perfect for a cold winter's night." he said as he gave them the cups.

The trio took a sip. The hobo then pulled a sock out of the kettle the drink came from and wringed it out.

Anne's visible eye widened before she spat out the drink and coughed.

Chase coughed, spitting out the drink over the side of the train. Jeremie gagged, as he swallowed the drink.

"Bless you..." the hobo chuckled.

"What the heck is this stuff?!" Chase coughed

"Whoops... Hehe, sorry... Sometimes use it for laundry..." the hobo chuckled.

Jeremie coughed. "W-What about Santa?"

"Hm?" the hobo asked.

"Isn't he the king of the North Pole?" Jeremie questioned.

"You mean this guy?" the hobo asked as he placed a Santa Claus hat on. "Ho ho ho ho ho! Ho ho ho ho! Ho ho ho ho ho!" he laughed.

The trio simply looked at him. What was up with this guy...?

"You... uh... You're freaking me out a little. And yes, we mean the big guy in the red suit..." Chase said

The hobo simply smirked as he took the hat off. "So what exactly is your persuasion on the big man? Since you brought him up..."

Jeremie blinked with surprise. "W-Well... I want to believe... But..."

"I- I... uh... I- I don't know what t- to believe..." Chase stuttered, with surprise. Anne blinked with surprise.

"U- Uh..." Anne said, not knowing what to say at all.

"Ah, I see... You all don't want to be bamboozled. You don't want to be led down the primrose path! You don't wanna be conned or duped. Have the wool pulled down over your eyes. Hoodwinked. You don't wanna be taken for a ride, railroaded!" the hobo said as he put the fire out with the drink and started packing up.

"Wait, where are you going?" Jeremie asked.

The hobo smirked, not answering his question. "Seeing is believing... Am I right?"

"But... What about this train?" Chase asked.

"What about it?" the hobo asked.

"We're all really going to the North Pole, aren't we?" Jeremie asked.

"Aren't we?" the hobo repeated with a smirk.

"Are you saying that... This is all a dream?" Jeremie questioned.

"No way it's a dream..." Anne told Jeremie.

"You said it, kid! Not me." the hobo told Jeremie as he grabbed his suitcases. "So, let's go find that girl!"

He started to walk, but he paused and looked over his shoulder.

"One other thing... Do you three believe in ghosts?"

"Nope" Chase said

"No..." Jeremie said

Anne rose an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Anne asked

The hobo smirked.

The group saw the hobo turn, and start walking away.

Jeremie's eyes widened. "Wait..."

The wind started to pick up as they tried to go after the hobo. "Wait!" Jeremie cried out again.

"Wait up!" Chase exclaimed.

But the hobo was already gone... as if he disappeared into thin air...

(REVIEWS ARE LOVE! SO LOVE US!)


	5. Chapter 5, Flattop Tunnel

Chase grit his teeth, shielding his eyes from the snow as he tried to walk, but the wind was too strong.

Jeremie shook his head.

"I have to wake up... Yeah, I have to wake up!" the blond haired teen said to himself, convinced that this was a dream.  
>He pinched himself. "Come on... Wake up, wake up, wake up!"<p>

Anne shook her head. "Jeremie, this isn't a dream!"

Chase turned to look at Anne and Jeremie, with gritted teeth.  
>"Are you coming, or not?" Chase asked<p>

Jeremie slapped himself. "Come on! Wake up!"  
>He then took his glasses off and buried his face in the snow to try and make himself wake up. "WAKE UP!"<p>

Chase tried to pull Jeremie up. "Jeremie, move it! This is not a dream!" he yelled over the wind.

Anne had a wide eyed look, as she helped Chase pull Jeremie up."Jeremie, snap out of it! This isn't a dream! Come on, we've gotta get the ticket to Aelita!" she exclaimed.

Just then, the train whistle blared loudly. In the distance, they could see a light approaching. As the light got closer, they could see it was the hobo on a pair of skis with a flashlight strapped to his hat.  
>"KID!" he yelled over the train whistle as he approached them. "Kid, get your head outta the clouds! Wake up, kid!"<p>

Jeremie's eyes widened as he slipped his glasses back on.

"There's no sleepwalkin' on the Polar Express!" the hobo exclaimed.

"What?! I can barely hear you!" Chase exclaimed, over the snow

"We gotta jump them knuckles!" the hobo said as he turned around and held his hand out to Jeremie. "Come on, kid. Flip my shoulders. Grab my hand."

Blinking, Jeremie grabbed the hobo's hand. The man then placed Jeremie on his shoulders.  
>"You two, hold on, alright?" the hobo ordered as he looked at Anne and Chase. The two held onto him as he started to walk through the snow. "We gotta hightail it to the hog, pronto!"<p>

"The hog?" Jeremie questioned.

"The engine, you tenderfoot." the hobo explained. "We gotta make it to the engine before we hit Flaptop Tunnel."

"Flattop Tunnel?" Anne questioned

"And how come we gotta reach the engine before Flattop Tunnel?" Chase asked.  
>The hobo let out a sigh. "So many questions... There is but one inch of clearance between the roof of this rattler and Flattop Tunnel. Savvy?"<p>

"Savvy..." Jeremie said, nodding in confirmation.

The train started to go up a hill. The hobo quickly crossed the back of his skis as they started to slide backwards. His eyes widened seeing some of the snow break off top behind them.

Quickly, the hobo used one of the skis and slipped it into a handle, stopping them abruptly. However, the sudden stop knocked Jeremie off the hobo's shoulders, nearly falling off the train. Luckily, he managed to grab onto the back just in time.

"JER!" Chase exclaimed.

The hobo's eyes widened seeing that the Polar Express was starting to go downhill.  
>"Hurry, flip back on, kid! Grab my muck stick!" he exclaimed as he held the ski handle out to Jeremie. The bespectacled teen quickly grabbed it with both hands.<p>

The hobo then flipped Jeremie around, having him land on front of him on the skis.  
>Anne and Chase held onto the hobo tightly as they started to slide down the train. In the distance, they could see they were approaching a tunnel.<p>

"We need to hurry this up, guys!" Anne exclaimed

As they quickly approached a gap between the carts, the hobo quickly jumped over the gaps and did the same thing to the other gaps.  
>"We gotta hurry!" Chase exclaimed.<p>

The train got closer and closer to the tunnel.

"There's only one thing to this, you three..." the hobo told them as they rapidly approached the engine and the tunnel.

"When I say 'jump'... you **JUMP!**" he yelled before he suddenly disappeared into thin air, vanishing in the snowflakes.

Jeremie, Anne, and Chase screamed as they jumped, right before the tunnel went over them. They ended up landing in a pile of coal. Chase, Anne, and Jeremie slid down through the coal, until they landed on a metal floor.

Anne groaned and sat up.

"That wasn't fun at all..." Anne muttered

"Just who was that guy?!" Chase asked.

"No idea!" Jeremie said

Chase's eyes widened as he got up and saw that Aelita was sitting in the engineers seat and that William was standing next to her.

Aelita and William both turned, and smiled at Jeremie, Anne, and Chase.

"Hey guys!" Aelita said, smiling

"Aelita?! William?!" Anne asked, shocked to see her two friends here.

"What're you two doing?!" Chase asked, shocked to see Aelita sitting in the engineers seat.

"They put us in charge!" Aelita said.

"WHAT?!" Jeremie, Anne, and Chase all asked with shock.

"They had to check the light." William explained.

"Hold on, what're you doing up here? I thought you stayed back in the cart?" Anne asked.

William chuckled sheepishly. "Yeah... about that... I thought you'd have a better chance of finding her if I went to look, too... I got caught..."

"When?!" Chase asked, with disbelief

"About five minutes ago..." William admitted.

"How do you know how to drive this thing?!" Chase asked.

"It's quite simple, guys. Come here, I'll show you." Aelita told them. The trio stepped closer to Aelita and William.

"This big lever here, that's the throttle." Aelita explained as she pointed at a large lever.

William gestured to a smaller lever. "This lever here is the brake..."

"Those are the pressure gauges..." Aelita continued as she pointed to some gauges. She then pointed at a rope with a handle. "And that rope there is the whistle."  
>"The whistle?" Anne asked.<p>

Aelita smiled and nodded. "Wanna try it?"  
>Anne grinned and pulled the whistle, the train horn blaring loudly.<p>

Anne smirked, pulling it again.  
>"I wanted to do that my whole life!" Anne exclaimed, joyfully<p>

The brown haired teenager pulled it again.  
>"WHOOOO!" she exclaimed.<p>

Chase smirked, walking to Aelita. He pulled the rope, and snickered as the whistle blew.  
>"This is awesome!" Chase exclaimed<p>

"I know, right?!" William asked.

Chase laughed, as he pulled the whistle again.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in the passenger cart...<p>

* * *

><p>Odd groaned as Herve was talking his ear off about the train.<p>

Odd sighed, looking at Herve.  
>"Can you not talk about it anyone?" Odd asked<p>

Herve rolled his eyes.

"I can't inform people of interesting faces about a train?" Herve asked

1h agoOdd groaned and headed back to his seat.

Odd sighed, with boredom.

Ulrich stayed silent as he looked out the window.

Yumi smiled, locking hands with him. "Ulrich... Is something wrong?" the Japanese teen asked.

Ulrich rose an eyebrow, looking at Yumi.  
>"No, why?" Ulrich asked<p>

"I think there's something you're hiding..." Yumi said.  
>Ulrich looked out the window. "Nothing's wrong..." he muttered.<p>

"Don't lie to me, Ulrich..." Yumi said

"I said I'm fine, okay?!" he snapped.  
>Yumi blinked with surprise.<p>

"Why're you talking to me like that...?" Yumi asked

Ulrich's eyes widened when he realized what he said. "S-Sorry..." he stuttered before he quickly got out of the seat and tried to walk away.

Yumi quickly grabbed his arm, stopping him.  
>"Are you okay, Ulrich...?" Yumi asked<p>

Ulrich sighed and looked back at her.

"I... uh... Not really." Ulrich admitted

"What's wrong, Ulrich?" Yumi asked.  
>Ulrich sighed and looked at the other kids in the cart. "Can we talk somewhere else?"<p>

Yumi nodded, standing up. She followed Ulrich out of the cart, and to the rear one. They passed the boy, and went back outside to the very end of the train.

Ulrich sighed as he looked out to the distance. "You know why I stayed at Kadic for Christmas?" he asked Yumi.

"Why, Ulrich?" Yumi asked

Ulrich let out a sigh as he stared off into the distance. "Because my father forced me to stay behind. He was so mad about my bad grades this year that he told me, 'If you can't get your grades up, you will not be spending Christmas with us!'. And since I couldn't get good grades, Dad made me stay behind. My mother never got a say in the matter. It was like she was backing him up in his decision."

Yumi went wide eyed. She then gently put her hands on Ulrich's shoulders, and pulled him in for a hug.

Ulrich remained silent as Yumi did this.  
>"I'm sorry, Ulrich..." Yumi whispered.<p>

Yumi rubbed Ulrich's back as she hugged him. "I'm so sorry..." she said, sympathetically

Ulrich closed his eyes. "And my mother just stood back and watched as Dad yelled at me... They left me there alone on Christmas..."  
>Yumi shook her head. "You're not alone. You have us." she told him.<p>

Ulrich looked at Yumi, going wide eyed.  
>"W- What did you say...?" Ulrich asked<p>

"I said you're not alone. You've got us. We won't let you be alone on Christmas." Yumi told him.

Ulrich slowly smiled, as he nodded.

"Thanks, Yumi..." he said softly.

Yumi smiled, kissing Ulrich's cheek. "You're welcome..." she said, smiling.

Ulrich blushed a little bit.  
>"Uh... L-Let's head back to the cart..." the brunet stuttered.<p>

Yumi nodded before they headed back into the cart, passing the quiet boy, and reentered the passenger cart.

(REVIEWS ARE LOVE! SO LOVE US!)


	6. Chapter 6, Quick Thinking

Aelita, Anne, William, Chase, and Jeremie stood together in the engine as they chatted about the engine.

"So, have you guys ever been on a train engine before?" Anne asked.

"Nope." Aelita shook her head.

"Uh-uh." Chase said as he shook his head.

"No." Jeremie answered.

"Not really..." William answered.

Anne shrugged. "Me neither."

Just then, they heard a voice in the distance. Aelita carefully poked her head out the window, finding one of the engineers, a short, stout man, yelling to them.

"STOP THE TRAIN!" the engineer yelled.

Aelita went wide eyed as Chase also looked out.

"WHAT?!" Chase called over the wind.

"STOP THE TRAIN!" the stout engineer yelled again.

"They want us to stop the train!" Aelita exclaimed to the group.

"Which ones the brake?!" Jeremie asked.

"I dunno!" William exclaimed

The bespectacled teen looked around frantically. "What about this red one? It looks like a brake!" Jeremie said as he pointed at a red lever.

Aelita shook her head. "No, he said this was the brake!" she said as she pointed at the small lever.

"Are you sure?!" Jeremie asked.

Aelita was silent for a moment, her face full of doubt.

"Are you sure?!" Jeremie repeated.

Instead, Aelita sat down and covered her eyes.

Chase went wide eyed, looking at Anne.

"Anne, do you have any idea which one it is?" Chase asked

"How should I know?! I don't know anything about trains!" Anne retorted.

"STOP THE TRAIN!" they heard the stout engineer yell again.

Jeremie gripped onto the red lever and prepared to pull it. However, he paused and looked at Aelita, who still sat in the engineers seat with her eyes covered.

If Aelita was right, then it was worth a shot...

Hesitating for a moment, Jeremie pulled the small lever and the Polar Express screeched to a halt.

Aelita looked at Jeremie, going wide eyed as she saw him pull the small lever.

Up front, the stout engineer nearly lost his balance and quickly grabbed onto the other engineer, who was much skinnier. The stout engineer ended up grabbing the skinny engineers long beard, making the latter yell.

The train then screeched to a halt as the stout engineer came face to face with... a caribou.

"Caribou?!" he asked before the caribou snorted in his face.

In the engine, the group sighed with relief.

Chase looked out, and immediately went wide eyed.

"There's a bunch of meese in front of the train! Or mooses! Moose... I don't know what it's supposed to be, but it's there." Chase said

"It's 'moose', Chase." William retorted. "And those are actually caribou."

Anne poked her head out the window and her visible eye widened seeing the amount of caribou outside. "Holy..."

Just then, they heard the Conductor coming in.

"What in the blazes is going on in here?!" he demanded. The conductor scowled seeing Jeremie. "You! Young man, are you trying to ensure that this train never reaches the North Pole?!" he asked as he scowled at the bespectacled teen.

"But look!" Aelita exclaimed as she pointed out the window. The conductor poked his head out the window and his eyes widened.

"CARIBOU CROSSING?!" he yelled.

"How many of those things are out there?!" Chase exclaimed, with shock

One by one, the Conductor and the group climbed out of the engine and made their way to the front of the train.

Chase's jaw dropped, seeing that there were HUNDREDS of caribou out in their way.

"Well, s-"

Aelita quickly covered his mouth. "Watch your language!" she scolded as they reached the front of the train.

"I make that herd to be at least a hundred thousand, maybe even a million! It's gonna be HOURS before we clear this track!" the stout engineer exclaimed.

Chase growled. "HOURS?! What the-"

Aelita covered Chase's mouth, frowning.

"Stop saying those words!" Aelita scolded

"Sorry..." the messy haired teen apologized.

"A tough nut to crack!" the skinny engineer said.

"We are in some serious jelly..." the Conductor muttered as he looked out at the herd.

"And a jam." the stout engineer added.

"Tight spot!" the skinny engineer chimed in.

"Up a creek."

"Up a tree!"

"Lost in grass!"

"I'll tell ya what's grass; our-" Before the skinny engineer could finish, Anne had accidentally slipped and grabbed onto the skinny engineer's beard, making him yell. "OWWWW!"

After he yelled, a caribou whined and let out a snort. The others noticed this.

"Hm..." the Conductor muttered before he got an idea. He grabbed hold of the skinny engineer's beard and gave it a tug.

"OWWWWWW!" The engineer yelled

One caribou let out another whine as it backed away a little.

The Conductor gave one final pull on the engineer's beard, making him let out a long yell of pain as William and Jeremie cringed. "OWWWWWWWW!" the skinny engineer screamed.

The one caribou whined back before it started to move to the side, as well as the other caribou.

Jeremie had a wide eyed look.

"Didn't think that'd work..." Jeremie said

Chase let out a whoop as he and Anne high fived.

"WHOO!" Chase laughed.

The Conductor looked out at the caribou moving aside and smiled. "Problem solved. All ahead, slow!" he announced.

The two engineers climbed back into the train engine and started the train up again.

Aelita, Jeremie, Chase, Anne, and William all smiled as the train resumed moving.

In the engine, the stout engineer tried to pull a lever, but he noticed that it was stuck, causing the train to chug faster and faster.

At the front of the Polar Express, Jeremie's eyes widened. "Hey, we're going pretty fast..." he observed.

"Okay, yeah, we're going WAY too fast!" William agreed

"Tell the engineers to slow down." the Conductor ordered.

Aelita headed over to the side of the train and called, "SLOW IT DOWN! WATCH THE SPEED!"

However, the engineer couldn't hear her, as he was still trying to pull the throttle. Finally, it broke off, the pin bouncing all over the place. "Jumpin' jeepers, the cotter pin sheared off!" the stout engineer exclaimed.

"Where?!" the skinny engineer asked.

"There!" the stout engineer cried as he saw the pin on top of a vent. However, he accidentally slammed his hand on it, causing the pin to fall through the vent.

"OH NO!" the two engineers exclaimed together.

Back at the front of the train, Aelita looked back at the Conductor. "They can't hear me!" she exclaimed.

The Conductor's eyes widened. "They can't?"

Aelita shook her head.

"Uh-oh..." he muttered as they looked back forward, seeing two signs as they were heading towards a large hill. One said 'DANGER 179 DEGREE GRADE' and the other said 'USE LOW GEAR'.

"Quick, under the safety bar." the Conductor ordered as he and the five Lyoko Warriors quickly headed over to the safety bar.

"What's happening?!" Anne asked "What should we do?!"

The Conductor grabbed a rope that was part of Aelita's jacket and tied it to the safety bar and around them to use it as support. "Considering the fact that we have lost communication with the engineer, we are standing totally exposed on the front of a locomotive, the train appears to be accelerating uncontrollably, and we are rapidly approaching Glacier Gultch, which just happens to be the steepest downhill grade in the world, I suggest that we all hold on... **TIGHTLYYYYYYY!**" the Conductor yelled as the train suddenly went down a huge hill.

The group started screaming. Jeremie and Aelita even locked hands as tightly as they could, from fear.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!" Anne screamed as they sped down the hill rapidly, the wind blowing their hair back.

Chase's hair whipped wildly in the wind as they zoomed down the hill.

The Conductor also screamed as they started rapidly zooming up a hill, all of them nearly falling back if it wasn't for the rope that was supporting them.

William tightly shut his eyes as Aelita screamed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" they both screamed.

"I WANT MY MOMMY!" Chase screamed

They all screamed as they all lurched forward, almost falling over the safety bar as the train suddenly went downhill again.

It was like they were on a roller coaster!

"I HATE ROLLER COASTERS!" Anne somehow managed to scream out.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in the passenger cart...<p>

* * *

><p>The kids were laughing and whooping with excitement at the fast ride.<p>

Odd whooped and threw his hands up in the air. "YEAAAAAHHHH!" he yelled.

Dylan held onto his seat tightly as his eyes widened with fear.

"This is insane!" Dylan shouted

Yumi held onto her seat while laughing while poor Ulrich was clinging onto his seat with fear.

"It's like a rollercoaster!" Yumi exclaimed

"GET ME OFF THIS THING!" Ulrich screamed with fear over Yumi whooping.

"Odd, hold onto the seat! You might get hurt!" Dylan snapped at Odd.

"No way that's gonna happen!" the purple clad teen whooped.

Odd laughed, loudly as he threw his hands in the air.

Dylan groaned. "What a moron!" he exclaimed out loud as he held onto his seat.

* * *

><p>Back at the front of the train...<p>

* * *

><p>In the engine, due to the sudden change in gravity, the pin flew out of the vent. "THE PIN!" both engineers exclaimed as they made a grab for it.<p>

However, as the train suddenly went downhill, the pin flew into the stout engineer's mouth. The stout engineer accidentally swallowed it.

The other engineer looked at the stout engineer, seeing him pointing to his opened mouth, showing that he accidentally swallowed the pin.

Back at the front of the Polar Express, the group gasped seeing that ice had frozen over the tracks ahead of them.

"Jiminy Christmas, the ice has frozen over the tracks!" the Conductor exclaimed.

"I take it that's not a good thing?!" Chase asked, with worry

Chase didn't get an answer, as the train went onto the ice. It skid left and right, over and over again.

Meanwhile, back in the engine, the other engineer hit the stout engineer in the back of the head with a shovel, causing him to spit out the pin. However, the pin ended up landing out on the ice, causing it to begin to crack.

Suddenly, the train slammed into a mini berg, causing it to tilt to the right slightly. Aelita had fallen off, but thankfully, the Conductor grabbed the back of her jacket. Aelita screamed with fear.

"Don't worry, I've got you! It's okay!" The Conductor assured, but he was starting to slip as well. Anne, Jeremie, William, and Chase all grabbed the back of the Conductors coat, but Anne was starting to slip.

Suddenly, Anne felt something grab her jacket. Anne turned around and went wide eyed, seeing the hobo was keeping her on the engine. No one else noticed him.

The hobo raised his finger to his lips. "Shhhhh!"

Jeremie looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened seeing the hobo. "You're-!"

The hobo simply smirked as he held a finger to his lips, signaling them to keep it a secret.

The Conductor regained his balance as he and the others helped Aelita back on. Anne looked over her shoulder and saw the hobo give them a smile and thumbs up before he vanished in a flurry of snowflakes.

"Young lady, quick thinking on your part!" the conductor complimented Anne.

Anne nodded as she and Jeremie looked at each other with shock.

Back in the engine, the skinny engineer got an idea. He took his hat off and pulled a pin that kept the hair out of his eyes out of his hair, causing it all to fall in his face.

Quickly, he inserted the hairpin in place of the cotter pin. The stout engineer quickly pulled the lever, causing the train to turn skid to a halt and turn around slightly.

The engine rocked back and forth a little and Jeremie almost fell off, but the Conductor helped him back on as the engine stopped rocking.

"Well... That is more like it." the Conductor said as he adjusted his hat and glasses.

Anne simply stared ahead with wide eyes. "I... Hate... Roller Coasters..." she gasped out.

Chase was trembling, with fear. "I-Is it over...?"

The Conductor nodded. "Yes. You can calm down, now."

Chase let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank god..."

The group climbed on top of the engine as the Conductor opened the door that led into the engine and frowned down at the engineers. "What in the name of Mike?!"

Just then, they heard a loud cracking noise.

Jeremie gasped as he pointed off into the distance. "LOOK!" he exclaimed.

The ice was starting to crack!

"Oh no!" William exclaimed.

"IT'S CRACKING!" Aelita warned

"Get us the blazes out of here!" the Conductor yelled to the engineers.

Jeremie and Aelita tightly locked hands again as the train started slowly backing up.

"Turn this sled around!" the conductor yelled down to the engineers.

The stout engineer quickly pulled a lever and made the train turn around. The five Lyoko Warriors crouched down as the Conductor somehow managed to keep his balance as he stood up.

The engineer pulled another lever and the Express quickly turned around and started speeding away from the rapidly cracking ice behind it.

William's eyes widened as he saw something up ahead.

"Look! Over there!" he yelled as he pointed at it. The Conductor looked up and his eyes widened. They were railroad tracks!

"Tracks! Dead ahead!" he called down to the engineers.

As the Polar Express got closer and closer, the Conductor shouted directions down to the engineers.

"Right!"

The stout engineer pulled the throttle to make the train go right.

"Left!"

He pulled the throttle again and got the Polar Express to move to the left.

"Right!"

At the command, the engineer pulled the throttle again to make the Express go right.

"Hang a Louie!"

The train went left.

"Toss a Ritchie!"

Right again.

"Port astern!"

The train went left once again.

"To the starboard!" the Conductor called down to them as he saw they were getting closer.

Meanwhile, as the Conductor shouted directions, Jeremie's slipper had started to fall off with Aelita's ticket starting to slip out.

"You're gonna lose your ticket, Jeremie!" Aelita exclaimed.

"That ain't his ticket, Aelita! It's yours!" Anne cried out as she held on tightly.

The pink haired teen gasped. "It's my ticket?!" she asked as she and Jeremie both reached for it.

"... Keep up with me! Left! Right! Left!" the Conductor repeated over the chugging of the engine.

As the ticket started to float away, Jeremie and Aelita grabbed it together. The two then gasped as they saw that the cracking ice had caught up with them just as they were only feet away from the tracks.

"OH NO!" all five Lyoko Warriors cried out in unison. The Conductor's eyes widened at the sight. "BRACE YOURSELVES!" he warned before everyone dove down. Thankfully, the Polar Express reached the tracks in time, chugging away from the cracking ice.

Everyone sighed with relief. "Well, that's more like it." the Conductor remarked before hopping down into the engine.

Aelita hugged Jeremie tightly. "Thank you! Thank you so much for finding my ticket!"

Jeremie blushed and hugged her back. "Uh... N-No problem, Aelita..." he stuttered.

The Conductor then popped back up at this. "Did somebody say they found their ticket?" he asked. Aelita and Jeremie nodded.

The Conductor smiled a bit. "Well, you're lucky to have him as a friend." the Conductor told Aelita, referring to Jeremie.

The two simply blushed while Anne, William, and Chase chuckled.

(REVIEWS ARE LOVE! SO LOVE US!)


	7. Chapter 7, When Christmas Comes To Town

After the close call with the frozen lake, the Polar Express chugged up tracks on a mountain that resembled a spiral. The moon appeared to be very close, making the sight even more beautiful.

Jeremie, Aelita, William, Chase, Anne, and the Conductor were on top of the engine heading down to the other carts.

Anne let out a whistle as she saw them going around and around the mountain. "Wow..."

"Watch your step up here. Its mighty slick here, I tell you, mighty slick." the Conductor advised.

As if on cue, Jeremie accidentally slipped.

"WHOA!" he exclaimed. Seeing this, the Conductor grabbed him and pulled him back up.

"There you go. What did I tell you? Years ago, on my first Christmas Eve run, I was up on the roof making my rounds when I slipped on the ice myself. I reached out for a hard iron, but it broke off. I slid and fell. And yet, I did not fall off this train." the Conductor told them.

"You didn't fall...?" Chase asked, with surprise.

Aelita smiled at the Conductor.

"Did someone save you? An angel, maybe...?" Aelita asked, smiling.

"Maybe..." the Conductor shrugged.

Anne's visible eye widened as she remembered the hobo saving her from slipping earlier. "Wait, did you see the person who saved you?" she asked as they climbed down from the top of the engine and headed over to the next cart.

Jeremie nodded. "Yeah, what did he look like?"

"No, I didn't. But sometimes, seeing is believing. And the sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can't see." the Conductor said.

Everyone nodded, smiling.

"Amen to that..." Chase said, smiling

Jeremie blinked, wondering what the Conductor meant as the latter opened the door leading into the cart, revealing it to be full of broken toys.

Anne went wide eyed, along with the rest of the teens.  
>"Woah..." Anne said<p>

Chase looked around the cart. "W-What is all of this?"

"Ah, the forsaken and the abandoned..." the Conductor told them sadly. "Mind your step. These poor things have suffered long enough, being left to rust in the back alleys and vacant lots of the world..."

"That's... That's horrible..." Aelita said, sadly.

"What are they all doing here?" William asked.

"Yeah, do you clean them up, or something?" Jeremie asked

Anne carefully stepped over a couple of broken dolls.

Jeremie gently picked up an old toy robot and examined it.

"It's a new concept the boss came up with." the Conductor explained. "Instead of being thrown away, they're collected, refurbished. He calls it, uh... 're-bycycling'? Something like that." he said as he navigated his way through some puppets hanging from the ceiling.

Aelita picked up an old doll with a dirty dress and looked at it sadly.

Chase looked at Aelita, and smiled.

"They'll get sent back to some other kids, Ai..." Chase said, smiling

"It makes me wanna cry... Seeing toys that were treated like this..." Aelita said sadly, remembering her own doll, Mr. Puck.

Chase nodded, in agreement.

"Haven't thought about toys in a long time, but now that I think about it..." Chase muttered, trailing off.

Aelita rose an eyebrow, tightly hugging the doll.  
>"You had toys, when you we're younger...? I thought you didn't like them..." she said<p>

Chase sighed and looked away. "I used to love playing with fire trucks..." he admitted.

All of the teens stopped, and looked at Chase with wide eyes. Anne and Aelita both smirked.  
>"Fire trucks...?" Anne asked, smirking<p>

Chase rose an eyebrow as he looked at Anne. "You don't remember how I used to play firefighter sometimes when we played when we were kids?" he asked.

Anne nodded. "Yeah, I remember that..."

Chase sighed as he looked at an old, dirty, beaten up fire truck lying on the ground. "Aw man... Poor thing didn't deserve this..."

"No, it didn't... I can't believe people would do this to toys..." Jeremie said, sadly.

Anne's eyes widened when she noticed a dirty, red plush dog lying on the ground.  
>"R-Red Dog..." she whispered.<p>

"You recognize that dog, Anne...?" William asked

"I-It's mine..." Anne stammered as she knelt down and gently picked it up.

Chase went wide eyed.  
>"Oh yeah... I- I remember you having that!" he exclaimed<p>

Anne held the dog plushie gingerly in her hands.  
>"D-Dylan got this for me one day... I named it Red Dog, since it was... well, red. About a few months after Chase and Dylan moved, this group of boys stole him from me after pushing me down... I never saw Red Dog again..."<p>

The teens nodded, as Chase petted Red Dog, while smiling.  
>"Never thought I'd ever see him again..." Chase muttered, smiling at the small plushie.<p>

The Conductor walked over to Anne.

"Is that your dog, ma'am?" the Conductor asked

"Uh, yes sir... A bunch of boys took him away from me when I was just a kid..." Anne explained.

"Would you like to have him back?" the Conductor asked, smiling

Anne gasped softly and nodded. "Y-Yes, please..."

The Conductor smiled, and nodded.  
>"Make sure you take good care of him, okay ma'am?" he asked<p>

Anne nodded and carefully slipped Red Dog into one of her jacket pockets.

Chase smiled.

The Conductor continued to navigate his way through the cart with Aelita, William, and Anne behind him, but Jeremie and Chase were distracted by a couple puppets.

"These hopelessly entangled string puppets, marionettes, holds a particular problem... We've found that the nimble fingers of our work force here at the North Pole are best for working out the knots and tangles." the Conductor said as Aelita opened the door for him as he, William, Anne, and Aelita stepped through.

The Conductor pulled out a set of keys as he prepared to open the next door. "Oh, double-locked..."

Just then, the door closed behind the three. Chase looked over at them and his eyes widened seeing that they were no longer at the door the Conductor was about to open. It was as if they had vanished into thin air.

"Where'd they go?" Jeremie asked.

"I- I dunno..." Chase said, with wide eyes.

Chase and Jeremie headed towards the door to try and catch up with them.

Just then, Jeremie felt a hand land on his shoulder. He stiffened and slowly turned around, seeing an Ebenezer Scrooge puppet.

"You two are just like me, my friends... A SCROOGE!" the puppet exclaimed.

The two teens gasped and stepped back with surprise, backing up into a couple puppets. "Ebenezer Scrooge! North Pole, Santa Claus, this train... It's all a bunch of humbug!" the puppet continued.

Jeremie and Chase looked up and were surprised to see that the hobo was controlling the puppet from a hatch in the ceiling. The duo's eyes widened as they looked back at the puppet.

"A bout of indigestion. Oh yeah, I know what you are; YOU'RE A DOUBTER!" the puppet exclaimed, scaring the two.

Both Chase and Jeremie screamed as they quickly navigated their way through the puppets as the Scrooge puppet/hobo kept screaming at them.

"A DOUBTER! YOU TWO ARE DOUBTERS! YOU DON'T BELIEVE! DOUBTERS! YOU DON'T BELIEVE!"

Finally, the two reached the door and jerked it open, quickly running out and slamming the door behind them, panting. They found themselves back in the passenger cart with the other kids.

Chase panted. "T-That was the SCARIEST puppet I have EVER come across..."

Jeremie nodded, shakily nodding his head.  
>"How about we NEVER go back in there... Agreed?" Jeremie asked, shakily<p>

"Agreed." Chase said immediately with a nod.

The two walked away from the door to search for the others when Herve suddenly walked in front of them.

"There you two are! You missed it! We rode down some really sharp hills! And then we were on what looked like a frozen lake, but I know it was just an optical illusion caused by moonlight and atmosphere. He said the train was actually on the ice, but I said that was impossible, because you can't put a train track on-" Herve rambled.

Jeremie rolled his eyes, but he looked over Herve's shoulder and noticed that Aelita and the other Lyoko Warriors were in the back cart looking at something. The two walked past Herve, cutting him off.

"Hey, where are you two going now?" Herve asked, a little ticked off that they didn't let him finish. Chase and Jeremie didn't answer as they left the passenger cart.

Chase and Jeremie got to the back cart. They walked to the Lyoko Warriors, with curious looks.  
>"Guys? What're you looking at?" Jeremie asked<p>

Aelita whipped around and held a finger to her lips. "Shh!" she whispered.

They could hear faint singing. Chase rose an eyebrow with confusion. Dylan gestured to the door leading out to the railing at the back of the cart. They could see the quiet boy from earlier standing there looking out to the night sky.

Aelita gestured for Jeremie and Chase to follow them, but Jeremie shook his head. Aelita nodded her head and motioned again. This time, the two followed them. Anne quietly opened the door so they could listen.

_"I'm wishing on a star_  
><em>And trying to believe<em>  
><em>That even thought it's far<em>  
><em>He'll find me, Christmas Eve<em>  
><em>I guess that Santa's busy<em>  
><em>Cause he's never come around<em>  
><em>I think of him when Christmas comes to town..."<em> the boy sang softly.

The Lyoko Warriors were silent for a moment before Aelita smiled and joined in singing, surprising the boy a bit.

Aelita smiled, looking at the boy.  
><em>"The best time of the year, when everyone comes home..."<em>

The boy gasped, turning around to see Aelita smiling at him.

_"With all this Christmas cheer, it's hard to be alone_  
><em>Putting up the Christmas tree, with friends who come along<em>  
><em>It's so much fun, when Christmas comes to town..."<em> Aelita sang, smiling

Anne smirked, remembering the good times she had on Christmas when she was younger. She walked to Aelita's side and joined in singing.

She pointed out at the sky, which had lights and shapes that resembled presents in the snow.

_"Presents for the children_  
><em>Wrapped in red and green."<em> Anne sang.

_"All the things I've heard about_  
><em>But never really seen..."<em> the boy sang.

Aelita smiled.

_"No one one will be sleeping on the night of Christmas Eve..."_ she sang.

_"Hoping Santa's on his way..."_ Anne, Aelita, and the boy sang together.

The red back light on the cart shined in the snow flurries, creating the shape of a red sleigh and a large bag.

_"When Santa's sleigh bells ring..."_ Aelita sang.

_"I listen all around."_ the young boy sang.

_"The herald angels sing."_ Anne sang.

_"I never hear a sound..."_ the boy sang.

_"And all the dreams of children..."_ Aelita sang

_"Once lost will all be found..."_ the boy sang

Anne smiled, looking at the sky.

_"That's all I want, when Christmas comes to town..."_ Anne sang, smiling

Aelita smiled and gently took the boy's hands in her own.

_"That's all I want when Christmas comes... to town..."_ Aelita, Anne, and the boy sang.

The Lyoko Warriors all smiled, as the song finished.

"That was... Amazing!" Jeremie exclaimed

The young boy smiled shyly.

Chase simply nodded his head with a smile.

Aelita then looked out to the sky and noticed something. "Look!" she exclaimed.

The group looked up seeing the Aurora Borealis in the sky.  
>"The Northern Lights!" Jeremie stated.<p>

The group had awestruck looks, as they stared at the Aurora Borealis. William and Odd however, didn't look very impressed.

"Eh, I can see that on my TV screen..." Odd said, shrugging.

Anne rolled her visible eye.

Jeremie adjusted his glasses as he looked up at the sky. "Whoa... It's so beautiful when you see it in real life..." he remarked.

"Yeah, it is..." Dylan said

Just then, the Conductor stepped into the back cart. "Hey! You guys!" he said as he approached them. "We have just crossed it."

"Crossed it?" Chase asked, curiously

"Crossed what...?" Ulrich asked

"Latitude 66 degrees, 33 minutes. The Arctic Circle." the Conductor explained as he pointed out to some lights in the distance that seemed to be resting atop of an island. "And do you see? Those lights in the distance. They look like the lights of a strange ocean liner that's sailing one a frozen sea."

He looked back at them with a smile as he pointed at the lights. "There... is the North Pole!"

Everyone went wide eyed, as they stared at the North Pole.

"W- We're here? Like, ACTUALLY here?!" Anne asked, with shock

Jeremie's eyes widened. "We... We made it... We're actually here..."

"It's real..." William whispered.

Odd let out a whoop. "YEAH! WE MADE IT!" he exclaimed as he jumped up and down.

Chase laughed, as he and Aelita shared a high-five.  
>"I'll admit, I was wrong! It DOES exist!" Chase exclaimed, smiling<p>

Yumi hugged Ulrich, who blushed. "I can't believe it! We're here!" she exclaimed.

Dylan hugged Anne, who hugged him back. "This is awesome!" he exclaimed with a laugh.

Jeremie simply remained silent as he stared at the North Pole with his jaw dropped.

For once, the facts were wrong...

The North Pole WAS real...

Aelita smiled as she hugged Jeremie.

They had finally made it to the North Pole.

(REVIEWS ARE LOVE! SO LOVE US!)


	8. Chapter 8, Separated

As the Polar Express chugged through towards the North Pole, singing could be heard.

_"It's a magic carpet on a rail. It never takes a rest._

_Flying through the mountains and the snow._

_You can ride for free and join the fun._

_If you just say 'yes'._

_Cause that's the way things happen On the Polar Express!_

_Whoo, whoo, the whistle blows._

_That's the sound of her singing._

_Ding, ding, the bell will ring._

_Golly, look at her go!_

_You'll wonder if you'll get there soon._

_Anybody's guess._

_Cause that's the way things happen._

_On the Polar Express!_

_When we get there, we'll scream 'Yeah!'_

_We'll arrive with a bang, bang, bang! Boom, boom, boom! Laughing all the way!"_

As they reached the North Pole, many buildings could be seen. The Conductor stood on the steps of the passenger cart and looked at his watch. "We've made it! With just five minutes to spare! We've made it!" he exclaimed happily before he took off his hat, revealing that he was slightly bald, before pulling out a tissue and happily crying as he wiped away a tear.

He then placed his hat back on and went inside.

The Lyoko Warriors watched, with awe, and smiles on their faces, as they saw the North Pole through the windows of the passenger cart. However, they noticed that the streets were empty.

"Hang on, there should be elves." a kid said.

"Yeah, where are the elves?" another kid asked as the others chimed in.

Aelita instantly perked up, smiling with excitement.  
>"Elves?" Aelita asked, excitedly<p>

"They are gathering in the center of the city." the Conductor explained.

"Why?" Anne asked.

"That is where Santa will give the first gift of Christmas." the Conductor said. At this, Herve hopped up.

"Who gets the first gift of Christmas?" Herve questioned.

"He will choose one of you." the conductor explained as he looked at everyone.

"O- One of US? Who?" Dylan asked

"Like I said. One of you." the Conductor explained.

The kids all nodded, as they looked at each other, with wide eyes.

Just then, a kid exclaimed, "LOOK!"

Aelita gasped, and had an excited look, seeing Elves outside of the train.

There were hundreds of elves marching to the center of the city.

Aelita looked at Jeremie, with wide eyes, and a large smile.

"I told you there were real, Jeremie!" Aelita said, joyfully, and with excitement.

Jeremie stared out at the elves with shock. "Y-Yeah..."

Odd peered out the window at the elves. "Wow. They're small than I thought."

Chase had a wide eyed look, peering out of his window. "Wow..."

Anne looked out the window and gasped. "Look at that!" she exclaimed as she pointed out to the center of the city.  
>In the center of the city was a HUGE Christmas tree that seemed to give off a golden glow from the lights and lit up the center of the city.<p>

The Lyoko Warriors looked at the tree, with wide eyes.

"That is one BIG tree." Dylan remarked.

A moment later, the Polar Express came to a halt. The kids and the Lyoko Warriors stepped out of the cart.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen. Two columns, if you please. Sorter in the front, taller in the rear. Even numbered birthdays on the right, odd numbered on the left. No pushing, no pushing. But let's not dilly-dally. It's five minutes to midnight!" the Conductor said as he checked his watch.

Herve frowned. "Hey, what gives? It was five minutes to midnight four minutes ago."

"Exactly!" the conductor said before he turned back around. "Columns of two. One. Two."

"Excuse me?" Yumi asked the Conductor.

"Question." the Conductor said.

"What about him?" Aelita asked as she pointed to the boy, who sat alone in the back cart.

"No one is required to see Santa." the Conductor answered her before turning back to the other kids. "You do not have to hold hands, but please remain in your columns as we are in transit."

Aelita looked back at the Lyoko Warriors. "Come on, guys!" she whispered as she led them to the back cart. Unknown to them, Herve had witnessed them sneaking away.

One by one, they all climbed into the train cart. However, Odd, who was the last one to board, accidentally stepped on a lever that held the two carts together.

The group then rushed over to the boy, who simply looked down as he sat in his seat.  
>"Look, you have to come with us..." Aelita said breathlessly.<p>

"Why?" the boy asked

"Christmas doesn't work out for me..." the lonely boy muttered.

"Kid, you need to come with us..." Dylan said

"Christmas is such a wonderful, beautiful time..." Aelita told the boy.

The rest of the Lyoko Warriors nodded in agreement, smiling at the lonely boy.

"It's a time for giving and being thankful for friends and family, people hang lights and decorations, and then Santa comes and leaves presents under the Christmas tree!" Aelita continued.

"Christmas just... doesn't work out for me..." the boy said again.

Anne crouched in front of the boy, smiling as she grabbed his hand.

"It CAN work out for you... I promise..." Anne said, smiling

Jeremie sighed. "Look, I don't know if Christmas is going to work out for you or not, but this is Christmas Eve! Don't stay here by yourself."

Aelita nodded. "Yes, come with us... We'll all go together..."

The lonely boy looked at them, thinking about whether or not he should come with them.  
>Just then, they felt the cart shift before the lights flickered out.<p>

"What the heck was that?!" Dylan asked, with wide eyes

Anne, Odd, Dylan, Chase, and Aelita immediately rushed over to the door and opened it, finding that the back cart had been separated from the Polar Express and it was slowly rolling away.

"Oh no..." Aelita gasped.

"Uh oh..." Dylan muttered.

"That's not good..." Chase muttered

Odd blinked, remembering he had stepped on something when getting on earlier. "Oops..." the teen muttered.

Yumi frowned, and immediately looked at Odd.  
>"Did you step on the thing keeping the carts together?" Yumi asked, nearly growling.<p>

"I think I did... It was an accident, I swear!" Odd cried.

"Okay, okay... You're forgiven, I guess..." Yumi said sighing with slight annoyance.

Everyone rushed over to the back of the cart and opened the door as they gathered on the railing.

"I think we're gonna be okay, guys..." William said.

Just then, the cart triggered a mechanism that caused the track to change course.

"GREAT, YOU JINXED IT!" Anne exclaimed as the cart started zooming downhill through the tracks of the North Pole.

"BRACE YOURSELVES!" Dylan shouted with fear.

Everyone screamed as they gripped the railing while the back cart zoomed down the tracks.

Aelita and Jeremie tightly held onto each other, as Chase and Odd both laughed, maniacally.

"THIS IS AWESOME!" Chase exclaimed joyfully

"FOCUS, YOU TWO!" Yumi snapped.

Chase nodded. "R-Right!"

"The emergency brake! We gotta find the emergency brake!" Jeremie exclaimed.

Dylan nodded as he looked around, trying to find the emergency break.

Anne, Dylan, Jeremie, and William made their way up to the front of the cart.

"Where's the break, guys?!" Dylan asked

"THERE'S NO BRAKE! I CANT FIND THE BRAKE!" Jeremie yelled.

William and Dylan ran inside to try and find the break.

"Any luck?!" Chase asked as he reached Anne and Jeremie.

"No!" Jeremie exclaimed.

Just then, Anne, Chase, and Jeremie heard a clanking sound. They looked up to see the hobo sitting on top of the cart tapping a cup on a wheel, which was the brake.

"IT'S YOU!" Anne exclaimed over the roar of the cart.

"Take a 'break', you guys!" the hobo said as he poured some of the coffee into his cup. "How about a nice, good, hot cup of joe?"

"NO, I DON'T WANT A NICE CUP OF JOE! I want this train to just STOP!" Chase exclaimed with fear.

The hobo chuckled and took a sip of the coffee.

"Where's the break?!" Aelita asked

As the hobo took a sip of the coffee, the cart went into a tunnel. As he hit the top of the tunnel, he disappeared in a flurry of snowflakes.

The group had shocked looks.

"Where did he just go?!" William asked

"Wait, you saw him?!" Anne asked with surprise.

"YES! I did, too!" Jeremie exclaimed

Jeremie then grabbed the brake and turned it.

However, sparks flew under the cart as the brake was activated, but it barely slowed down.

Everyone screamed, their yells echoing throughout the tunnel.

They rushed back to the railing, seeing that they had exited the tunnel and were rapidly heading towards the end of the railroad.

"We're gonna crash!" Aelita exclaimed.

The cart then hit the stop, causing everyone to fall to the floor.

Everyone breathed a MASSIVE sigh of relief.

Just then, the cart started to spin.

Jeremie staggered to his feet. "W-We're spinning!" he exclaimed.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Aelita exclaimed with annoyance.

Dylan held onto Anne as the cart spun around.

Eventually, the spinning slowed down until it came to a stop. They could hear Winter Wonderland playing over a loudspeaker in the place they had stopped in.

"Wait, is that... Winter Wonderland...?" Jeremie asked with wide eyes

Ulrich nodded. "Yeah..."

Chase gripped the railing with wide eyes. "Well... That happened..."

(RECIEWS ARE LOVE SO LOVE US!)


	9. Chapter 9, The North Pole

The group poked their heads out the door as the music played.

"Hey... You hear that?" Aelita asked.

"I hear it, too!" the lonely boy said.

Jeremie rose an eyebrow. "Hear what?"

"I don't hear anything besides that music..." Chase said.

"Me neither..." William said.

Dylan rose an eyebrow.

"I hear something too..." Dylan said.

"You seriously don't hear it?" Anne asked incredulously.

"The sleigh bell!" Aelita stated as she climbed off the cart with the others following her.

"What bell?" Jeremie asked.

"Sleigh bell? Like from SANTA'S sleigh?!" Chase asked with wide eyes

"Come on..." Aelita told them as she gestured for them to follow them.  
>The group walked over to where the track led into the tunnel. Anne looked down and her visible eye widened seeing how high up they were.<p>

"Heh... Anyone afraid of heights...?" Anne asked as she looked down

Aelita carefully placed her feet on the rail and slowly walked on it, spreading her arms out to keep her balance.  
>She looked back at the others and motioned them to follow her. "Come on."<p>

One by one, the group started carefully walking across the rail with Aelita in the lead.

"Try not to fall..." Dylan muttered as he struggled to keep his balance.

Anne tried not to look down as they carefully walked across.

"Don't look down... Don't look down... Don't look down, Anne..." Anne muttered to herself

The lonely boy nearly slipped due to the boots he was wearing, but quickly recovered.

Chase also nearly slipped, but Aelita grabbed his shirt collar, keeping him stable.

Ulrich tried not to look down, as Jeremie had a very nervous look.

"H- How much further?" Jeremie asked

"Not much, I think..." Dylan replied.

Aelita paused walking. The others stopped too, but had trouble keeping their balance.

"What?" Jeremie asked.

"Come on, guys..." Aelita told them as they resumed walking.

The group nodded as they resumed walking.

Eventually, they made it to the tunnel and ran through it with Aelita in the lead.

"Where are we even going?" Dylan asked as they ran.

Suddenly, Aelita made the group stop. She looked at them.

"Do you hear something?" Aelita asked.

Everyone except for Chase and Jeremie nodded.

"I don't hear anything..." Jeremie said.

"Seriously?!" Odd asked.

"Seriously." Jeremie confirmed

Chase shook his head. "I don't hear anything either..."

"You can't hear the bell?" Dylan asked.

"Nope..." Chase confirmed.

The group sighed as they resumed rubbing. They soon found themselves running through the brick streets of the North Pole.

William quickly ducked as he passed by a low lamp post.

Chase snickered until he accidentally hit his head on another low lamp post.  
>"Ow!" Chase said as he cringed.<p>

"Watch where you're going." Yumi advised.

Chase nodded as he rubbed his head.

The group kept running through the sreets, following the track.

They kept running as Dylan shook his head.  
>"Where are we even going?" Dylan asked.<p>

"No clue, Dylan." Chase replied

Dylan sighed and nodded. Soon, they came to a dead end where the track stopped and they came to a tunnel.  
>Jeremie could hear Silver Bells playing and skipping on a record.<p>

Chase had an extremely annoyed look as he listened to the skipping record.

Aelita paused, listening. "Yes... Yes, I hear it..."

"I can hear it, too!" said the lonely boy.

"I don't hear anything..." Jeremie said with a shake of his head.

"Okay guys, it's down this way..." she told the group as she pointed to the tunnel. The pink haired girl headed towards it.

"Are you sure?" Jeremie asked.

Aelita paused for a moment before turning around and looking at Jeremie seriously and nodded. "Absolutely."

Jeremie nodded as Aelita locked her hand with his, making him follow her towards the sound.

The group followed Aelita into the tunnel, which led to a set of stairs.

"So once we get to the song, then what?" Chase asked

"It's the BELL, Chase." Anne retorted.

"What bell?" Chase inquired.

"Bell?" Jeremie inquired with confusion.

"Can't you hear it?" Anne asked.

Chase and Jeremie both shook their heads.

They continued to walk down the steps.

"I seriously don't hear anything..." Chase said

"Why can't we hear anything?" Jeremie asked as they approached a light near the bottom of the steps.

"Shh!" Anne hissed as they crouched down.

The group crouched down as they got to the light.

They then found themselves on a balcony, which showed a large room with a bunch of machines, screens, and a few elves. They all got down on their stomachs so they wouldn't be spotted.

"Woah... Look at this place!" Chase exclaimed quietly

"Shh!" Aelita hissed. "Look!"

The group saw a group of elves in front of a large screen.

They all remained silent as they observed.

"Uh huh... Uh huh... Okay!" they heard an elf say into the phone before hanging up and turning to an elf carrying a candy cane wearing some type of hat. "Well, that was the wrapping hall, chief. They just finished the last one."

"How's it wrapped?" the elf with the hat asked.

"It's wrapped in candy striped red with a number seven bow." the elf answered.

Odd smirked as he stared at the elves.

"Candy?" Odd asked as he smirked.

"Shhh!" Anne scolded.

The group looked back at the elves.

"A number 7 bow?! When we're this close to liftoff? What're they thinking down there?! Are they meshuggenah?!" the elf with the hat asked.

_"Meshuggenah?"_ Chase asked with curiosity.

"I think that means crazy." Yumi whispered.

Chase nodded.

"Where's the routing?" the elf with the hat asked.

"It's going to Boulogne-Billancourt, France." the other elf said.

Ulrich's eyes widened. "That's our town, guys!" he whispered.

Jeremie also went wide eyed while nodding in agreement. "Y- Yes it is!" he confirmed.

Just then, they heard a loud blaring noise as a sign with the word NAUGHTY on it lit up.

"Hehehe... Someone's in trouble..." Dylan whispered as he smirked.

"Shh!" Anne whispered as they all watched closely.

"We got a troublemaker, now! Just what we need! Things aren't bad enough. What's his twenty?" the elf with the hat asked.

An elf checked a large globe. "Apparently, some kid from Maplewood, New Jersey. Stuck some gum in his sister's hair."

Chase bit his lip to struggle not to laugh. "I think I did the same thing to Aelita, last week..." he muttered.

"Quiet..." Aelita hissed.

"New Jersey? Wait, is that the same kid that put that tack on the teacher's chair last year?" the lead elf asked.

Another elf shook his head. "No sir. This kid's name is Steven."

"So, what do we do, chief? Alert the big man! We talking nothing for Christmas here?" another elf questioned.

The group looked up at one of the TV screens, showing a boy.

"I didn't do it. I didn't do it. I didn't do it..." the boy said as the video repeated.

They could see the desperate look on his face.

"Tell me that kid's getting coal or something..." Yumi muttered.

They heard the lead elf sigh. "Look, it's... It's almost Christmas, huh? We'll cut the kid a break."  
>Aelita smiled.<p>

"I like these elves..." Aelita said as she smiled.

"But put him on the check twice list next year. Alright, boys. Let's shut it down. That's it for this year. Come on." the lead elf ordered as he and the other four elves walked in a straight line.

"Hey, boss. Are we taking the pneumatic?" an elf asked.

"Of course we're taking the pneumatic! It's only way to get to the square on time!"

Quietly, the group on the balcony followed Aelita down.

"And time is money!" the lead elf continued as the elves reached a tube like contraption. "Ready, and mount!" he ordered as he and the other four elves hopped in.

The lead elf pushed a button and the kid closed before they zoomed off.

"Woah... What is that thing? Like a subway?" Dylan asked

"Sorta, I guess..." Chase replied

The group reached the pneumatic, but due to their size, only three people could fit in at a time. Aelita, Jeremie, and the lonely boy climbed into the pneumatic.

"We'll wait for you when we get there, okay?" Aelita told the others.

William nodded. "Alright."

Aelita, Jeremie, and the lonely boy all smiled as the pneumatic started going.

The lid closed and they took off speeding away.

The speed that the pneumatic was going was so fast, Jeremie's hair was flying back and his glasses nearly fell off.

Once it had reached its destination, the pneumatic jerked to a stop and Aelita, the lonely boy, and Jeremie stepped out.

The bespectacled teen looked around with confusion. "Well, this isn't the square..." he muttered.

Just then, the next pneumatic came with Anne, Dylan, and Chase in it.

Anne, Dylan, and Chase all stepped out of the pneumatic with curious looks.

"This isn't the square..." Dylan said

Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd came out of the next pneumatic.

"This is NOT where we're supposed to be..." Ulrich said

Finally, William was the last to arrive.

The teen shakily stepped out. "Where are we?"

The group looked around, finding out they were in some sort of giant factory assembly room.

"Some big factory..." Chase said.

"Well, great..." Anne sighed as she crossed her arms.

(REVIEWS ARE LOVE! SO LOVE US!)


	10. Chapter 10, Billy's Present

The group looked around the area they were in.

"I don't hear it..." Aelita said.

"Me either..." Anne agreed.

"Can you hear it?" Odd asked the lonely boy. The boy shook his head. "No..." he answered.

"I don't hear anything..." Dylan said

"Maybe we should follow those arrows." William suggested as he pointed at some arrows on the conveyor belt they were standing on.

"That's convenient" Chase stated

The group followed the arrows until they reached another large room.

"What's this room?" Dylan asked

The room was empty... Very empty... Except for the conveyor belt and some types of machinery, as well as some platforms on the side of the conveyor belt.

Aelita had a look of awe.  
>"I- Is this where they make the toys? Or at the very least process them?" Aelita asked<p>

Just then, they heard a loud siren and the conveyor belt started up. Quickly, they scrambled onto platforms.

"Woah!" Anne exclaimed

"What's happening?!" Jeremie asked

"I don't know!" Ulrich exclaimed.

"Well what do we do about this?!" Aelita asked

Anne, Aelita, Jeremie, Dylan, And Yumi scrambled onto a platform, Odd, William, Chase, and Ulrich stood on a platform, and the lonely boy managed to get on a platform.

"Where does this platform go, guys?" Dylan asked

Anne then noticed something coming down on the shelves. "Hey guys! Look!" she exclaimed as she pointed at it.

"What?" Chase asked while looking at where Anne was pointing.

They all looked to where she was pointing and noticed a box being lowered onto the conveyor belt. It was wrapped in candy cane wrapping paper with a large green bow tied around it.

"I wonder what's in there?" Aelita thought out loud.

As the present slowly passed them, Jeremie managed to read the tag. "Hey, it's going to our town! To someone named Billy!"

The lonely boy's eyes widened. "My name is Billy!"

Aelita looked at the box as it passed by. "It's says it's going to a 11344 Edbrooke Avenue." she announced.

"That's my address!" the lonely boy, now known as Billy, told them. As the box passed Billy, he looked back at them with a hopeful expression before running after the present and grabbing it just as was going through a small door.

"Wait up!" Anne exclaimed.

"Come on!" Aelita told the Lyoko Warriors before she rushed in after Billy with the others behind her.

Chase was the last one to enter, so he quickly dove down on his stomach to avoid getting hit on the head. The conveyor belt went through the door and he was shocked to find them all on some type of giant slide.

"WHOA!" he screamed as they all slid rapidly on the giant slide.

"What the heck?!" Dylan asked

Almost everyone was screaming with fear as they slid rapidly through the slide.

Odd, however, was enjoying this.  
>"YAAAAHOOOOOO!" he yelled.<p>

Chase loudly groaned with annoyance, as Yumi laughed while going down the slide.

"This is fun!" Yumi exclaimed

Aelita screamed as they rapidly slid around.

"I WANT OFF OF THIS THING!" Dylan screamed

"AHHHHHHH!" Anne yelled.

"I WANT MY MOMMY!" Chase yelled with terror.

Billy held onto the present tightly as they slid rapidly.

"WHOA!" Jeremie exclaimed.

The slide eventually lead to some type of large funnel, which they slid around on. Chase ended up spinning around.

They eventually fell through the hole in the funnel, screaming as they did. The group then landed on top of a huge pile of presents.

Dylan started suddenly laughing while tightly gripping the presents below him.

"I'M ALIVE!" Dylan screamed with joy.

Anne groaned. "Odd, get your foot outta my face!"

"Sorry..." Odd said as he moved his foot.

William gasped for breath as he sat up. "I'm okay!" he exclaimed.

Chase gagged as he smelled Odd's foot was nearby.

"Cover that foot with something before I puke!" Chase said.

Odd quickly slipped his slipper on.

"That's a LOT better..." Yumi said

"Wait, where's Jeremie?" Ulrich asked.

Right after that, he heard muffled noises from under him. He looked and gasped seeing that he had landed on top of Jeremie.

Ulrich quickly got off of Jeremie, letting Jeremie take big gasps of air.  
>"I nearly suffocated under there!" Jeremie exclaimed<p>

"Sorry..." Ulrich apologized.

Anne groaned while sitting up and rubbing her head

Yumi pushed a present off of her.

Ulrich groaned as he stood up.

The brown haired teen carefully tried not to squish the presents as he made his way over to the others.

"Look!" Billy exclaimed as he held his present. The others crawled over to it as Aelita read a tag. "'Merry Christmas, Billy. From Mr. C.'"

Billy shook the present a little bit. "I think I know what it is!" he exclaimed gleefully. "I wanted one of these my whole life!"

He was about to unwrap it, but Dylan stopped him. "Whoa, wait. Look..." he told the others as he pointed to another tags, which read 'Do not open till Xmas.'

Chase and Anne both grabbed two other presents and looked at them.

"Same thing on mine." Anne said

"Mine too" Chase said

Anne shrugged and set the present down. "I can wait."

"Meh." Chase shrugged and set his down as well.

Billy looked down at his present. "But..."

"Those ARE the rules, Billy..." Jeremie told him.

"Yeah, that's true. You can't open the present" Yumi said.

A moment after Yumi had said that, they felt the cart under the pile of gifts start to move a little before coming to a stop.

"What was that?" Chase asked

Everyone remained silent, anticipating what was going to happen next. They were startled when four mini rockets shot up into the air through a hole in the ceiling while they were attached to something. Slowly, the ropes lifted up, pulling a large red cloth up on the presents.

Odd's eyes widened. They were in the sack which Santa held gifts in!

Aelita also went wide eyed with realization.

"W- We're in Santa's gift sack!" Aelita exclaimed.

Chase let out an impressed whistle. "Wow..."

Jeremie looked around with wide eyes. "Wow... Every present in the world is in here..." he said with impressment.

Just then, they saw the ceiling open up, revealing that some sort of blimp was slowly lifting the gift sack up.

"Where is that blimp taking us?!" Yumi asked.

"I don't know!" Ulrich exclaimed.

Yumi then noticed a gift with Hiroki's name on it. "Hey, this ones for Hiroki!" she said as she examined it.

"You know Hiroki?" Billy asked.

Yumi blinked. "Um... Yes, he's my brother. Why?"

"I have a friend named Hiroki." Billy told her as he held onto his present.

"Wait, does he go to Kadic Academy?" Yumi asked.

"Yes..." Billy said.

"Hm... Now that I think about it, he did mention a friend named Billy..." Yumi muttered.

"I think I heard it once..." Chase muttered.

"Me too..." Ulrich muttered.

They felt the sack slowly rising into the air.

"This isn't good..." Dylan said.

"Wait, look!" Anne exclaimed.

Everyone peered over the edge and saw they blimp was carrying the sack throughout the North Pole!

"Woah..." Dylan muttered with wide eyes.

Everyone watched in awe as they passed by some of the buildings. The chimneys on the buildings had smoke in multiple colors.

"Woah... Look at those things!" Anne exclaimed

"It's so beautiful..." Aelita said with awe.

"Meh. I have a TV that can show the same thing" Odd said.

"Odd, can't you just enjoy the sights without making dumb comments?" Yumi asked with exasperation.

"Sorry..." Odd said.

"Oy..." Dylan said with annoyance.

Billy held onto his present as everyone looked at their surroundings. They could see that they were heading towards the square.

Just then, something grabbed Billy's leg and tried to drag him down. Chase and Anne reacted quickly and grabbed his hand.

"AHH! Something's got me!" he exclaimed.

"Billy!" Chase said

"Hang on!" Anne exclaimed as Ulrich also grabbed Billy's arm. "On three! One, two, three!"

The three pulled together, but whatever held onto Billy's ankle had a firm grip.

"What the heck is holding onto him?!" Chase strained.

"Give me your hand!" Jeremie exclaimed.

Billy looked back at his present, which he held in his other hand. "I-I can't!"

"Okay, on three!" Jeremie said. "One... two... three!"

The group pulled again and they could see a pair of hands holding onto Billy's ankle.

"ARE THOSE HANDS?!" Dylan asked with shock.

"One more time, guys! One, two, THREE!" William exclaimed as the group pulled Billy up, as well as whatever was holding Billy's ankle.

The person landed on some gifts and adjusted his glasses. It was Herve!

"YOU!" Chase exclaimed.

"HERVE?!" Jeremie asked.

"WHAT'RE YOU DOING HERE?!" Anne exclaimed.

Herve went wide eyed.

"Same as you! I'm checking my presents!" Herve said.

"Why?! Can't you wait until Christmas?!" Chase asked.

"No, I can't! I was checking to make sure I got everything I wanted and all I got was a buncha stupid underwear!" Herve said.

Dylan smirked.  
>"Underwear...?" Dylan asked while smirking<p>

Herve frowned.

"Hehehe... Underwear, Herve? Really?" Chase asked while smirking.

Anne snickered.

"I don't like it either!" Herve protested.

Odd smirked.

"Well, I hope you enjoy your underwear..." Odd said while struggling not to snicker.

"Shut up, Della Robbia!" Herve snapped. Yumi covered Billy's ears.

Anne and Dylan both had annoyed looks.

"Seriously, Herve?" Dylan sighed.

"I don't want underwear! How many times do I have to say it?!" Herve asked with annoyance.

Jeremie sighed as he turned his attention to the buildings.

"These buildings look a lot smaller than they should..." Jeremie stated

"Hey, look!" Odd exclaimed as he pointed ahead of them.  
>They could see the giant Christmas tree.<p>

"Woah! Look at that!" Chase exclaimed

Aelita looked at the city clock. "It's still five to! We're gonna make it!"  
>"Of course we will! It's been five to for the last hour! We've got plenty of time. We've got time to kill!" Herve said.<p>

"No. I just want to get everyone back to everyone else" Dylan said.

"Uh, guys? I don't think we're gonna make it!" Jeremie said, seeing that the bag was going lower to the tree's level.

"I don't think so either!" Dylan exclaimed.

Just then, they heard a voice yell from the crowd. It was the Conductor!

"I may be just an old railroader and know nothing of air crafts, but from my layman's perspective, you need more altitude!" he called up to the elves flying the blimp.

"MORE ALTITUDE!" all the elves in the square repeated in unison.

"Altitude! Does anyone know how to fly a balloon?!" Anne asked while looking at the group.

Just then, they heard an elf call from the blimp. "Altitude, please. A bit more altitude, please."

Several elves jumped off the blimp and sky dived.

The group had wide eyed looks.  
>"What're they doing?!" Chase asked.<p>

The elves that jumped off the blimp opened up parachutes safely floating down to the crowd of elves below.

The blimp floated up, taking the bag up with it due to the weight lost.

The group smiled

Odd then noticed something as he looked down. The bag was too close to the large star on top of the tree!

"Oh no!" he exclaimed.

The bag hit the tip of the star, causing it to fall off.

"WATCH OUT!" Chase shouted to the people below.

The elves scrambled from the falling star decoration, but one tripped.

Just then, the group herd an air horn blare from the blimp and several elves attached to ropes quickly jumped down after the star.

"GET THAT STAR!" Jeremie shouted at the elves, with wide eyes.

The elves all dove down and grabbed each end of the star just as it was inches away from the ground. They thankfully pulled it up, put it back on top of the tree, and turned it back on. The group cheered as everyone sighed with relief seeing that the star was back on the tree.

"That was way too close..." Jeremie stated.

The bag was then lowered onto a red sled.

Aelita had a look of excitement. "W- We're in Santa's sleigh!" Aelita squealed.

Aelita had a look of excitement. "W-We're in Santa's sleigh!" Aelita squealed.

Anne adjusted her bandana. "Well, whaddya know!" she said to herself.

"Well, he's real... Huh... Does it mean I'm REALLY on the naughty list?!" Chase asked with shock.

"Shut it, Chase..." Dylan scoffed. Just then, an elf peered over the edge at them. "Alright, you stowaways! Party's over." he said.

"STOWAWAYS?!" Chase asked with disbelief and anger.

Aelita frowned at her brother as Anne sighed, looking back at the elf.

Odd smiled nervously. "Uh... Hi..."

"I was just following these guys!" Herve defended.

"Ah, forget about it. We knew you was in there the whole time." another elf said.

The group went wide eyed.  
>"You KNEW we were in here the ENTIRE time, and you did NOTHING to get us out?!" Jeremie asked.<p>

"Come on, you were enjoying the ride, weren't ya?" the elf asked.

"Yeah, I kinda was." Odd said with a smirk.

"Me too." Anne agreed m

Dylan smirked, nodding in agreement.

"Okay, guys, ya go..." the elf said as he and the other three elves helped them up. Herve climbed out first.

"Hey, easy!" he snapped at the elf. "I know that-"

"What do you know? You're not supposed to be here in the first place." the elf retorted, shutting up Herve. Some of the Lyoko warriors smirked at his expression.

"But since it's Christmas, I'm gonna let you slide!"

Right after the elf said this, he lightly kicked Herve's legs, making him slide down the bag. The conductor was waiting for him at the bottom.

Aelita looked out over the side of the bag, raising an eyebrow as she saw the Conductor.

"Okay, miss. Your turn." the elf said.  
>Aelita slid down the bag.<p>

Aelita smiled, and actually laughed as she slid to the bottom of the slide.

"Welcome back, young lady." The conductor greeted.

"Thank you." Aelita said politely.

Odd slid down next.

Odd smirked as he landed at the bottom of the slide.

"Ah, there you are." said the conductor.

Ulrich and Yumi both smiled as they slid down together.

Chase slid down after them.

Dylan smiled at Anne as he gestured towards the slide.

"Ladies first." Dylan said.

Anne looked down, seeing how high they were. "Uh... You go first..." she said nervously.  
>"Like he said, ladies first." an elf said as he gently nudged Anne to make her slide down. Dylan slid down after her.<p>

Anne screamed, as well as Dylan.

The duo landed on the ground by the Conductor. "Welcome back." the man greeted.

"Hello..." Dylan said.

"Hi..." Anne greeted as she got up.

Dylan locked hands with Anne.

They headed to where the other passengers were standing as William slid down next.

Jeremie got to the ground first and was quickly helped off by Dylan.

"Cutting it kind of close, are we?" the Conductor asked.

Jeremie only smiled nervously before heading over to join the others.

Aelita smiled as Jeremie walked to stand next to her.

Chase slid down next.

Chase smiled as he slid down.

"There you are." the Conductor greeted once he made it to the bottom.

Chase smiled and walked to join the others.

Billy was next, but he held onto his present. The elf held his hands out. "I'll take care of this." he said.

Billy shook his head as he the present. Christmas gifts were rare at his house since he was poor... he didn't want to give this up...

"It'll be in good hands. Trust me." the elf assured him.

Slowly, Billy handed the gift to the elf, who put it back into the large gift sack. He then slid down the bag and conductor helped him up. "Welcome back." the man greeted.

Billy headed over to where the Lyoko warriors stood.

"Hey, Billy..." Chase greeted.

Billy nodded in greeting.

Dylan looked around.

Just then, a group of elves on a balcony played a fanfare on trumpets, gaining everyone's attention.

"What's going on?" Odd asked

They could see a group of elves leading reindeer, that's right, REINDEER, towards the sleigh.

"Oh my god... T- The freaking REINDEER are real too?!" Chase asked with shock.

The elves started singing a chorus as the reindeer were being led out, but were jumping around and trying to fly off. It took several elves just to help hold down ONE reindeer.

They watched as the reindeer were lined up in their respective rows in front of sleigh.

"Woah..." Ulrich said with wide eyes.

Jeremie could see elves bringing out straps with silver bells attached to it. But when they jingled it... he couldn't hear the bells ring. Neither could Chase. Oddly, the others could.

Aelita smiled. "Aren't those bells the most beautiful sound?" she asked.

Jeremie merely watched with confusion as the straps were gently placed on to the sides of the reindeers.

"Sound?" Chase asked

Another fanfare was heard. The elves started to slowly sing a song. The other passengers of the Polar Express, as well as the Conductor sang along in unison  
>"<em>Oh... You better watch out... You better not cry... You better not pout, I'm telling you why... Santa Claus is coming... to town!<em>"

Then, the large doors opened and revealed a figure. All of the Lyoko Warriors froze.

It was Santa Claus.

(REVIEWS ARE LOVE! SO LOVE US!)


	11. Chapter 11, The First Gift Of Christmas

_'Santa Claus is comin' to Town'_ started playing on loudspeakers as the elves cheered loudly. Jeremie and Chase struggled to look, but couldn't see Santa.

"Where is he?" Jeremie asked

"There! I see him!" Odd exclaimed.

"I can't believe it! It's him!" Aelita smiled.

"I can't see him!" Chase yelled.

Jeremie struggled to peer through the crowd of elves jumping up cheering for the man. "Neither can I!"

"You seriously can't see him?!" Dylan asked.

"I see him! He's over there!" Billy exclaimed with a smile.

"WHERE?!" Jeremie asked

Chase struggled to look through the crowd of elves happily cheering.

"I can't see him!" Chase yelled

"I CAN'T EITHER!" Jeremie yelled over the cheering.

Chase and Jeremie kept looking for Santa.

Chase and Jeremie tried to see Santa, but the reindeer got their attention. Time seemed to slow down for both of them as they saw a loose bell fall off the straps of the reindeer. It flew through the air before it landed on the ground, bouncing around a few times before slowly rolling to a stop between the two.

Jeremie knelt down and picked it up he held it up to his ear, as well as Chase's, and shook it, but no ring came. Instead, they heard a soft voice.

"_Doubters... Doubters... Doubters... Doubters..._" the voice softly repeated, as if it was taunting the two. Jeremie shut his eyes tightly, unable to take it anymore.

Chase looked at Jeremie with a raised eyebrow.

"Einstein? You alright...?" Chase asked.

"Okay... Okay!" Jeremie whispered as he closed his eyes. "I... believe... I b-believe... I believe..."

He closed his eyes, praying it would work...

The teenager gave the bell a ring, and much to his shock, he could hear it. He could hear the bell! Jeremie's eyes widened and he shook it again.

"Jeremie? What's happened?" Chase asked

"T-The bell... I-I can hear it..." the bespectacled teen replied. Chase cautiously took it and held it to his ear, hearing nothing as he shook it.

"I don't hear anything, Jeremie..." Chase said.

He rung it a couple more times, instead, hearing the same voice. "_Doubters... Doubters... Doubters... Doubters..._"

He shook his head, closing his eyes.

"I believe... I- I believe..." Chase muttered.

Chase prayed with his heart that the bell would ring. He believed...

Bracing himself, he rung it, but this time... he could actually hear it ring!

"Oh my god... I- I hear it!" Chase exclaimed with shock.

Chase rung it again, the beautiful sound being heard by both him and Jeremie.

"Wow..." Jeremie whispered.

The duo peered down at the silver bell. As they looked at their reflections, they noticed a THIRD reflection. The duo's eyes widened before they turned around, finding Santa Claus himself standing behind them. He had a glow around him, giving off an ethereal like presence.

"What was that you said?" he asked.

Chase and Jeremie exchanged a look. "I believe... I believe..." Jeremie said before he looked down at the bell and held it up to him. "I believe... t-that this is yours..."

Santa gently took it and examined it. "Well, thank you." he told them with a nod.

"Me! Pick me!" Herve suddenly cried out.

"Shh! Herve! Be quiet!" Aelita hissed.

"PICK ME!" Herve cried out

"Herve! Quit it!" Anne hissed.

He simply ignored her. "Pick me! I want the first gift! I want the first gift!"

"Young man... patience." Santa Claus told him as he looked over at him. "And a smidgen of humility might also serve you well."

Herve looked down at the ground. "Y-Yes sir..." he muttered with embarrassment.

Santa then looked down at Aelita and smiled. "And you, young lady... A lady of decision. Full of confidence and spirit. Christmas spirit. Keep up the good work."

Aelita smiled and nodded.

"Thank you sir." Aelita said politely.

Santa then looked at Odd. "Ah, Odd Della Robbia. Energetic as ever, I see."

Odd smirked as he nodded.

Santa chuckled and looked at Ulrich. "Ah, Ulrich Stern. Loyal to all your friends..."

"Yes sir." Ulrich said with a smile.

Santa looked at Anne. "Ah, Anne Marshall. Still moving on. You've been able to stay strong despite all that has happened to you..."

Anne nodded while smiling.

"And Dylan Enheart... Loyal as ever... And not just to your friends, but to a certain someone..." Santa remarked with a smile.

Dylan blushed, nodding softly.

Santa chuckled before looking at Yumi.

"And Yumi Ishiyama. The smart, natural-born leader." Santa said.

The Japanese girl nodded, smiling softly. "Keep up the good work." Santa told her before looking at William.

"William Dunbar... The hothead." Santa said.

William chuckled nervously. "I see you've managed to control it a little. Good job." Santa told him.

The teen nodded as Santa looked at Chase.

"Chase Enheart... I have a file on you that takes up an entire cabinet. I don't know if that's good or bad..." Santa said.

Chase scratched the back of his head as he smiled sheepishly. Santa then smiled. "You've been protecting your sister, brother, and friends from various dangers."

"Yeah... I- I have..." Chase said with a smile.

"It's a brother's job to protect his brother and sister. Just stay out of trouble."

Chase smiled. "Y-Yes, sir..."

"And Billy... It is Billy?"

The young boy nodded shyly. Santa smiled and looked around. "I see you've made some new friends." he remarked.

"Y-Yes, sir. I sure have." Billy nodded.

Santa nodded. "That's a lucky lad. There's no greater gift than friendship." he told him.

"And speaking of gifts..." Santa Claus began before looking at Jeremie. "... Let's have this young fellow right here."

The elves cheered as Jeremie's eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

"Wait, ME?!" Jeremie asked with shock.

The Lyoko Warriors and the Conductor smiled at Jeremie Ashe was led up to Santa's sleigh by several elves.

Jeremie had a look of shock.

Santa sat on his sleigh as Jeremie shakily sat down next to him. The elves, the Warriors, and the other Polar Express passengers quieted down.

"Now... What do you want for Christmas?" Santa asked.

"Me?" Jeremie asked.

Santa nodded. "You." he said with a smile.

The bespectacled teenager was silent for a moment before he whispered it to Santa. "Hm... Yes, indeed. Yes, indeed." he said as he stood up and pulled out the silver bell, holding it up high for all to see.

"**THE FIRST GIFT OF CHRISTMAAAS!**" he called. Everyone cheered for this.

The Lyoko Warriors cheered the loudest.

"YEAH! WAY TO GO, JEREMIE!" Odd whooped.

"I LOVE YOU, JEREMIE!" Aelita cheered

Chase smirked at what Aelita had said out loud. "CONGRATS, JER!' he exclaimed.

"GO, JEREMIE!" Anne yelled with a smile.

Jeremie then remembered something. "Oh, one more thing. Not for me, but for a friend..." he said to Santa before whispering the rest.

Santa looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded with a smile. "Ah, I see... I'm sure your friend will appreciate it."

He then crouched down to his height and showed him the bell. "This bell is a wonderful symbol of the spirit of Christmas... as am I. Just remember, the true spirit of Christmas... lies in your heart." Santa told him as he placed the bell into Jeremie's hand.

Just then, the clock chimed loudly, having struck 12:00.

Santa looked back at Jeremie. "Merry Christmas." he said with a smile. Jeremie smiled back and he was about to get off the sleigh when he saw the Conductor. "Better keep that in a safe place." the man said. Jeremie nodded and slipped the bell into his pocket as the Conductor helped him off the sleigh.

The conductor checked his watch, which said _'DEC 24 STILL COULD BE LATE'_ in a slot. The conductor motioned this to Santa, who nodded. "Oh." the jolly man in red chuckled.

Jeremie ran back to his friends as the conductor followed him.

Dylan patted Jeremie's back as Aelita ran up to tightly hug him.

"That's amazing, Jeremie!" Aelita told him as she hugged him.

Jeremie smiled as he hugged Aelita back.

Everyone turned their attention to Santa's sleigh. The reindeer started to jump off the ground and began to lift the sleigh. Santa laughed his traditional 'Ho, Ho, Ho'. "Pull, Comet! Pull, boy!" he called.

The group watched as Santa took off.

Everyone watched with amazement as the sleigh flew around.

"Woah..." Chase muttered.

"That. Is. Amazing." Dylan murmured in awe.

"Look at that...!" William said.

Aelita had a wide eyed look.

"Wow..." Aelita murmured in awe.

They quickly ducked as the sleigh flew over their heads.

"Now, Dasher! Now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen!" Santa exclaimed jovially.

"It's everything I dreamed it would be..." Aelita remarked with a smile.

"Could all this be nothing but a dream...?" Billy asked.

Jeremie and Chase smiled. "No..." the duo told him as they looked back at the sleigh. Santa used his magic to light up the tree, making it even more beautiful.

"To the top of the wall, to the top of the wall! Now, dash away, dash away, dash away all!" Santa exclaimed before he, the sleigh, and the reindeer disappeared into thin air, leaving behind the sound of the bells jingling.

All the elves were silent for a moment before the took off their hats and tossing them up into the air, shouting, "YIPEEEE!"

The Lyoko Warriors still had looks of awe on their faces.

"ALL ABOOOOAAARRRD!" the Conductor exclaimed as he checked his watch.

Up by the tree, they could see an elf band singing while several elves danced with female elves.

As the lead elf sang, Anne rose an eyebrow. He sounded familiar...

"Hey, Dylan?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Does that elf sound like Steven Tyler to you?" she questioned as they listened to the elf sing.

"Who?" Dylan asked.

"Doesn't he sound like Steven Tyler?" Anne asked as they listened to the elf sing.

The duo exchanged a look before they shrugged. "Nah..." they said in unison.

Chase smiled as he looked around.

"I... guess I was wrong about Santa." Chase admitted.

Aelita smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Chase smiled at Anne.

The group then started to head back to the Polar Express while the elves danced with female elves.

"So, are we going home now?" Dylan asked.

Odd shrugged. "Beats me."

The group then saw several elves wheeling the missing cart that they were in earlier back to the Express. Once it was conceited, the elves fell to the ground. Odd and Chase laughed, but Anne and Yumi shot them scolding looks.

Chase went wide eyed, but Odd kept laughing.

Anne rolled her visible eye before she nudged Odd, making him shut up.

Odd rubbed his shoulder as he looked down.

"Sorry..." Odd said.

The group got in line as the Conductor started punching the other passengers' tickets. "Ticket, please." the Conductor said as he took Herve's ticket, punching in letters. Herve took his ticket and rose an eyebrow.

"_'Lean'_? What the heck does that mean?" he asked.

"Lean is spelled with four letters. I believed I punched five." the Conductor corrected as he showed him the ticket, which read 'LEARN'.

Herve frowned. "Hey, are you saying I don't know how to-" he began, but caught himself. "Oh, I'm sorry. It says _'learn'_. My mistake." he corrected as he took the ticket and climbed onto the cart.

Anne smiled as she walked up to the Conductor.

The conductor punched in several letters, completing the word, and showed it to her. "_'LEAD'_?" she read.

The Conductor nodded. "Lead, as in leader, leadership. Follow you anywhere, ma'am." he said. The teenager smiled and nodded at this.

Anne smiled and walked up into the train car. Aelita and Chase smiled as they went next.

Aelita's ticket was punched in next. It had the word_ 'CARE'_ on it.

"_'Care'_?" Aelita asked.

"Care, as in caring. Your friends are lucky to have a caring person like you." The Conductor said with a smile.

The pink haired teenager smiled shyly. "Thank you..." she said as she climbed on.

Chase's ticket was next. Once the Conductor was finished, it read _'PROTECT'_.

"_'Protect'_?" Chase asked.

"Protect, as in protector... You excel at protecting those you care for." The Conductor said.

Chase nodded, understanding what he meant. "I see..."

The Conductor smiled as Chase and Aelita climbed up into the train car.

William was next. The words _'BE STRONG'_ were punched into it.

"_'BE STRONG'_?" William asked.

The Conductor nodded.

William nodded, understanding what the Conductor meant as he climbed into the train car.

Odd was next. He watched as the word _'LISTEN'_ was punched in.

"Listen?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. Listen, as in listen to advice or warnings from your friends. Don't disregard them, because that may end up being a mistake later on." the Conductor explained.

Odd smiled nervously, remembering when he wouldn't listen to Dylan warning him when the Express was going down Glacier Gulch. "Uh... Yes, sir..."

Dylan walked up to the Conductor as Odd climbed into the train car.

Dylan's ticket was punched in. Like Aelita's, it read_ 'CARE'_.

"Care?" He asked.

"Because you care for the well-being of everyone around you. It's a quality that you can't find in most people." The Conductor explained while smiling.

Dylan nodded before he climbed on board. Yumi was next.

She rose an eyebrow at the word punched into her ticket. "Trust?" she asked.

"Trust, as in that your friends trust you. And you trust them." The Conductor said.

The Japanese girl nodded and climbed onto the train. Ulrich had his ticket punched in next. "_'Open'_?" Ulrich read in confusion.

The Conductor smiled.  
>"Open... As in that if you open yourself to new things, you can achieve."<p>

He then added, "And open up to your friends and those close to you. They care about you, so don't shut them out."

Ulrich smiled and nodded.

As Ulrich climbed on, Billy was next. Once the word was punched in, he read it, shocked to see that it said_ 'DEPEND ON'_.

When he flipped it, it suddenly read_ 'RELY ON'_, and when he flipped it a third time, it read _'COUNT ON'_.

The Conductor smiled. "That is some special ticket. So, can you 'count on' us to get you home safe and sound?"

Billy nodded. "Absolutely... Me... And my friends."

The Conductor nodded as Billy climbed onto the train. This time, he went into the passenger cart where the others were.

Jeremie walked up to the Conductor.

"Ticket please." The conductor requested. Jeremie handed him his ticket, but this time, the conductor hid it behind his back as he punched in the letters. Jeremie tried to peek, but he couldn't see.

Once the Conductor was done, he handed it back to Jeremie. The ticket now read _'BELIEVE'._

"It says-" Jeremie began, but the Conductor cut him off.

"Oh! It's nothing I need to know." the Conductor smirked.

Jeremie nodded.

"Right..." Jeremie said.

As Jeremie climbed on board, he smiled as he placed the ticket into his pocket, unaware that it disappeared as he did.

"Hey, Einstein! Can we see the bell?" Odd asked eagerly.

"Yeah, can we see it?" a kid asked.

Jeremie smiled and reached into his pocket for it, but found a hole in it instead. Jeremie's eyes widened. "I lost it..." he whispered.

"What?" Aelita asked.

"I lost the bell from Santa's sleigh..." Jeremie said sadly.

The Lyoko Warriors looked at Jeremie sympathetically, as Aelita tightly hugged him.

"I'm so sorry, Jeremie..." Aelita said.

"Don't worry! We'll help you find it!" Billy said.

"Yeah, all of us will!" Ulrich agreed as he, the Lyoko Warriors,and the other passengers got up, but the train moved forward, making them sit back down in their seats.

Aelita hugged Jeremie again. "I'm sorry, Jeremie..." she whispered.

Jeremie looked down with a heartbroken expression. He had lost the first gift of Christmas...

(REVIEWS ARE LOVE! SO LOVE US!)


	12. Chapter 12, Home

The ride back had been solemn and silent.

Jeremie had his head down in a sad silence.

"11334 Edbrooke. Next stop, 11334 Edbrooke." the Conductor said over the intercom.

"Who's house is that?" Chase asked

"It's mine." Billy told them as he got out of his seat. He stopped by Jeremie and Aelita's seat and held his hand out. "Thanks for stopping the train for me..."

Jeremie shook his hand.

"It's not a problem." Jeremie said.

Aelita hugged him. "Merry Christmas, Billy..." she told him with a smile.

Billy smiled as he hugged Aelita back.

"Merry Christmas, Aelita..." He replied, smiling.

As Billy left, the Lyoko Warriors looked out the window, seeing him rushing up to his house in excitement. As the train began to move, Billy ran out onto his porch holding a large gift, the same gift they found in the bag! Santa got to Billy's house!

"LOOK! SANTA GOT HERE!" he exclaimed joyfully as he held the present up high.

"Santa got to Billy's house already!" Aelita gasped.

"How?!" Dylan asked with shock.

"He must be very fast!" Anne said.

The group smiled at Billy as he showed his gift.

"Isn't that amazing?" Aelita asked. Jeremie nodded. "Yeah... That is amazing..." he said with a smile as he sat back down. "It is amazing."

Aelita looked at Jeremie. She smiled as she locked her hand with his.

"It'll be okay, Jeremie..." Aelita said, trying to comfort him.

Jeremie nodded.

Aelita smiled.

Soon, they had reached their hometown. The Polar Express slowly came to a halt as it stopped in front of Yumi's house.

Yumi kissed Ulrich's cheek as she got up off of her seat. Yumi turned and smiled at the group.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow?" Yumi asked.

Ulrich blushed deeply. "U-Uh... Yeah..."

Anne nodded.

"Later Yumi." Chase said with a smile.

"Merry Christmas, everyone." Yumi told them with a smile before she got off the passenger cart.

The Lyoko Warriors all waved at Yumi as the train started to move again.

The trip back to Kadic Academy had been surprisingly quiet. Anne noticed the all too familiar gates of Kadic up ahead.

"We're back, guys." Anne said to the group.

After the train slowly pulled to a halt, Herve was the first to get off. "Sorry about the bell. You know what they say. It's the thought that counts." he said to Jeremie. The blonde teenager nodded.

"Well... See ya..." Herve said before he got off the train to head to the dorms.

"Well... See ya..." Jeremie repeated.

The group watched Herve walk back towards the dorms.

The Conductor helped them down the steps as they climbed off one at a time.

"Watch your step, now. Watch your step..." the Conductor advised.

"Thank you..." Jeremie said.

"No, thank you." he told him. "One thing about trains; it doesn't matter where they're going. What matters is deciding to get on." he told him with a wink.

Jeremie smiled and nodded.

As the group headed back the the dorms, the Conductor yelled something to them, but it sounded muffled.

"What?" Aelita asked.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" the Conductor called to them, waving goodbye.

The group waved back, but then Anne, Jeremie, and Chase heard a familiar instrument being played. They looked up at the top of the cart, seeing the hobo sitting by a campfire playing an instrument. The hobo smirked and waved goodbye to them.

"That guy freaks me out a little... But he's still kinda cool." Chase said with a smile.

"Who's he?" Odd asked with confusion.

Anne smiled softly. "A friend..."

The hobo then vanished into the wind in a flurry of snowflakes.

"Uh... W- Where did he just go?!" Dylan asked with wide eyes.

Chase, Jeremie, and Anne merely smiled while the rest looked on in shock.

"Woah..." Odd muttered.

The Polar Express then pulled away from Kadic Academy and chugged away. The Lyoko Warriors headed towards the dorms.

"Well... that was a fun time." Ulrich said, smiling.

"We better get to bed, guys..." William said.

Dylan walked Anne back to her dorm.

Anne smiled as she locked hands with Dylan.

Anne opened her door to her room and stepped in, but looked back at Dylan. "Merry Christmas, Dylan..." she said to him.

"Merry Christmas, Anne..."

The teenager girl then gave Dylan a kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight..." she told him before she closed the door.

Dylan smiled as he walked upstairs, and back to his room.

As he did this, Anne took the dirty Red Dog out of her pocket and gently set him down on her desk. Anne smiled softly before she got into bed.

* * *

><p><strong>MEANWHILE WITH JEREMIE AND AELITA...<strong>

* * *

><p>Jeremie let Aelita into his dorm first before he closed the door behind them.<p>

Aelita smiled as she hugged Jeremie, rubbing his back.

"It's okay, Jeremie... You have us..."

Jeremie nodded as he gently hugged her back.

"I know, Aelita... I'm just still a little sad about losing the bell..."

"Let's just get some sleep..." Aelita told him.

Jeremie nodded and got onto the mattress while Aelita got into the bed. Jeremie's eyes slowly drifted shut, thinking of the entire trip, a trip he'd never forget.

(REVIEWS ARE LOVE! SO LOVE US!)


	13. Chapter 13, Believe

Jeremie felt someone shake his shoulder.

"Jeremie! Wake up!" Aelita whispered excitedly. The teenager slowly opened his eyes. "Huh...?"

Jeremie yawned, opening his eyes fully.

"Christmas...?" Jeremie groggily asked.

Aelita nodded eagerly. "Look!" she told him as she pointed at a corner of the room.

Jeremie looked at the corner and his eyes widened seeing presents for both him and Aelita.

"Wow..." Jeremie muttered.

"Let's get the others!" Aelita told him as he placed his glasses back on.

* * *

><p><strong>IN ANNE'S DORM...<strong>

* * *

><p>Anne yawned as she slowly opened her visible eye. She looked around, seeing she was in her dorm. Her eye widened seeing presents in the corner of the room.<p>

Anne sat up quickly, seeing the colorful bundles and bows.

"Holy..." she breathed. Her gaze wandered over to her desk and she gasped. On top of it was Red Dog, but he looked brand new.

"R- Red Dog?!" Anne asked with shock.

Anne suddenly heard a knock on the door.

"Anne? Can you open the door?" Dylan asked from the other side.

"D-Dylan?" Anne asked with surprise.

"Yeah, now can you please let me in?" Dylan asked.

Anne got up off of her bed, and walked to the door. She unlocked it and opened it, letting Dylan walk in her room.

"Did you get your presents, too?" Dylan asked.

She nodded and looked over at her desk. She picked up Red Dog and looked at him with wide eyes as she held the plushie in her hands.

"Is that...? Is that Red Dog...?" Dylan asked with wide eyes.

Anne nodded shakily. "Y-Yeah..." she whispered as she held the plushie close to her. "He looks brand new..."

"Yeah... He looks great." Dylan said.

"You remember when you first got this for me?" Anne asked.

Dylan nodded. "Yeah..." he answered.

Anne smiled.

"But... He was so dirty last night... How?" Anne asked.

Dylan shrugged.

"Maybe Santa decided to fix him for you?" Dylan guessed.

"M-Maybe..."

"Come on, we all agreed to open our presents together at Jer's room." Dylan told her. "I'll help you carry your presents."

"Thanks, Dylan..."

* * *

><p><strong>LATER IN JEREMIE'S ROOM...<strong>

* * *

><p>All of the gang had gathered in Jeremie's room and opened their presents together.<p>

"... And when I woke up, I just found Red Dog clean! He looked brand new like the day Dylan gave him to me!" Anne told the others as she held one of her gifts, Naruto volume 68.

"Seriously?!" Chase asked with shock, while holding his new Walking Dead comic books.

Jeremie smiled softly. He remembered he had whispered to Santa that he wished for Red Dog to be cleaned up as a gift to his friend Anne, knowing how much Red Dog meant to Anne.

"Maybe Santa did it?" Odd suggested.

"Maybe..." Ulrich replied.

Aelita then noticed a small gift in the corner. "Hold on... There's one more..." she called as she picked it up, looking at the nametag. "It's got your name on it, Jeremie."

The blonde genius rode an eyebrow. "It does?"

Aelita nodded and handed it to him. Jeremie opened it and he froze. Inside the gift... was a silver bell. The bell from Santa's sleigh.

The group all looked at Jeremie.

"Jeremie? What is it?" Yumi asked.

"It's the bell!" Jeremie breathed.

Last night was real!

"THE BELL IS REAL?!" Chase asked with shock.

Jeremie noticed a slip of paper in the box also. He picked it up. It read 'Found this on the seat of my sleigh. Better fix that hole in your pocket -Mr. C.'

Jeremie went wide eyed, as his hand went to go and feel the hole in his left pocket.

Jeremie then shook the bell, hearing it ring.

If it rung... Then... He truly believed.

Jeremie went wide eyed as he heard a beautiful ringing noise.

The others could hear it, too.

"Last night was real..." Jeremie whispered.

"Oh wow..." Aelita whispered, with awe.

Jeremie smiled and shook it again, the bell's beautiful sound ringing throughout their ears.

"Wow... It sounds so beautiful..." Yumi breathed.

Anne nodded.

Dylan then smiled. "Anne... Why don't you sing a song to celebrate this?"

"A song...?" Anne asked.

Dylan nodded. "Yeah..."

"I... I guess I can..."

She then cleared her throat before she started to softly sing.

_"Children sleeping_

_Snow is softly falling_

_Dreams are calling_

_Like bells in the distance_

_We were dreamers_

_Not so long ago_

_But one by one we_

_All had to grow up_

_When it seems the magic slipped away_

_We find it all again on Christmas Day..."_

The group smiled as they sat back and listened.

_"Believe in what your heart is saying_

_Hear the melody that's playing_

_There's no time to waste_

_There's so much to celebrate_

_Believe in what you feel inside_

_And give your dreams the wings to fly_

_You'll have everything you need_

_If you just believe..."_ Anne sang.

Dylan smiled.

Anne smiled back as she sang.

_"Trains move quickly_

_To their journey's end_

_Destinations are where we begin again_

_Ships go sailing_

_Far across the sea_

_Trusting starlight_

_To get where they need to be_

_When it seems that we have lost our way_

_We find ourselves again on Christmas Day..."_

Chase smiled as he listened to Anne, while thinking about Santa.

_"Believe in what your heart is saying_

_Hear the melody that's playing_

_There's no time to waste_

_There's so much to celebrate_

_Believe in what you feel inside_

_And give your dreams the wings to fly_

_You'll have everything you need_

_If you just believe..._

_If you just believe..._

_If you just believe..._

_If you just believe..._

_Just believe..."_ Anne finished.

Aelita smiled and leaned her head on Jeremie's shoulder as they listened to her sing the last parts of the song.

Dylan started clapping, and the rest of the group joined in as Anne smiled.

Dylan then kissed Anne on the cheek, making her blush. "Merry Christmas, Anne."

"Merry Christmas, Dylan..." Anne replied, blushing a deep crimson.

Aelita then smiled, noticing Odd holding a mistletoe above her and Jeremie.

"Odd...!" Jeremie exclaimed.

Odd grinned. "You know the rules!"

Jeremie sighed, but shook his head and smiled. Aelita smirked and kissed him on the lips first, taking him by surprise, but he slowly relaxed. Everyone cheered and whooped at this.

"YEAH!" Ulrich cheered.

"Go, Einsteins!" William laughed.

Jeremie and Aelita then broke the kiss and smiled at each other.

"Merry Christmas, Jeremie..."

"Merry Christmas, Aelita..." Jeremie told her as he held the bell in his hand, its beautiful sound ringing throughout their ears.

It had truly been a magical Christmas... one that none of them would ever forget...

(AS ALWAYS: REVIEWS ARE LOVE! SO LOVE US!)

* * *

><p><strong>(<em>From AquaDestinysEmbrace:<em> Merry Christmas, everyone! Stay safe and happy. We hope you have enjoyed this meaningful crossover of Code Lyoko and The Polar Express. Always remember the true meaning of Christmas. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!)**

**(_From I heart Lyoko:_ Hey y'all! We ****REALLY hope you enjoyed this crossover of Code Lyoko and the Polar Express! And I hope your Christmas and New Year goes terrific! We hope 2015 will be a good year for you all, as well! Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year to you all!)**


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